


Arm in Arm, We'll Win the Fight

by cherie_morte



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Knotting, M/M, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 07:32:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7835764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherie_morte/pseuds/cherie_morte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><span class="u">Pokémon AU:</span> Like most kids his age, Jared left home at 18, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, determined to become a Pokémon master. Five years later, the plan has changed a bit—Jared traded in his gym badge collection for a better adventure, a chance to do some good. Now he's what you might call an eco-terrorist; he finds abusive Pokémon masters and, well, persuades them to free their Pokémon. Jared doesn't believe in keeping Pokémon as pets, but he frees a Ninetales from Team Rocket that will not stop following him. In addition to his new, fire-type plus one, Jared keeps bumping into a very forward, very handsome, green-eyed stranger. He doesn't know who Jensen is, why he seems to be everywhere Jared goes, or why his Ninetales takes off every time Jensen is near, but he's very much enjoying trying to figure it out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arm in Arm, We'll Win the Fight

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a new fic; I wrote and [posted this story in 2013 on LiveJournal](http://infatuated-ink.livejournal.com/85210.html). However, because of the recent Pokemon GO launch, there's been a renewed interest in Pokemon and I decided, hey, why not post to AO3 in case new Pokemon fans are looking for Pokemon!J2 fic? So, anyway, here it is. This story was never formally betaed, but I've been reading over it and taking out typos for three years, so hopefully it won't show too much. [mashimero](http://mashimero.livejournal.com/204744.html) did the beautiful art.
> 
> References in this story are based primarily on the Gen I video games. There are a few bits that came from the show or which I changed to better fit my story. I have been told by many readers over the years that the story makes sense if you are not familiar with Pokemon, but here are some resources I relied on while writing which might help you if you are not already familiar with this world:
> 
> **[Searchable List of the 151 Original Pokémon with Pictures](http://pokedream.com/pokedex/pokemon?display=gen1)**  
>  So you know what the little guys look like when I mention them.
> 
>  **[General Map of Kanto](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/091/5/6/pokemon_kanto_map_hgss_by_cow41087-d3d00i0.jpg)**  
>  Jared does a lot of traveling. Here's a good general idea of what that looks like.
> 
>  **[Layout of Kanto from the Generation I Games](http://65.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4cr2aoUkz1qjveyno1_1280.png)**  
>  This is probably more detail than anyone needs and can also slow down computers a lot, but it gives you details on what can be found in the world of the games I based this story on.
> 
>  **[Bulbapedia – The Pokémon Wiki](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page)**  
>  Great for general searches of anything I mention that doesn't make sense. This thing saved my life while I was writing this.
> 
>  **[The Wiki Page on Ninetales](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ninetales)**  
>  The best and most important of all Pokémon (at least as far as this fic and author are concerned). Can supply you with useful information on why I made certain choices (for example the eyes changing colors in the fight scene).

Like most kids his age, Jared left home at 18, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, determined to become a Pokémon master. _Un_ like most kids his age, five years later Jared has neither given up and returned home defeated nor hit it big and conquered the Pokémon League. Plans change. He gave up on his gym badge collection long ago, but that didn't mean his adventure was over. There's better work to be done than getting his name enshrined in the Indigo Plateau.

Today is business as usual.

Well, business as usual plus a sprained foot.

"You are such an idiot," Gen tells him, again, as she wraps his ankle. "For so many reasons, but for this especially."

"I wasn't expecting it to be a freaking master ball when I stepped on it," Jared defends. A regular poké ball would have snapped easily under his foot. This one nearly took his leg off, and he still had to keep kicking at it to break it enough to sever the link between the Rocket and the innocent Pokémon he'd been trying to use to kill Jared. "Where'd Team Rocket even get one of those? And why would they waste it on a Ninetales? You can catch a Ninetales in a great ball. Maybe even a regular ass poké ball if you're really careful."

Gen shakes her head and a few strands of hair fall from the careful up-do she'd tucked under her nurse hat this morning. "Not this one," she says, moving back toward the bed the Ninetales Jared just brought in is resting on. "According to the machinery, your friend here is level 180."

If Jared had taken a sip from the cup of water he's got clenched in his hand, he would have just covered Gen in it. "Did you say level 180?"

Gen nods. "You heard me. Level 180."

"Damn. I've never seen a Pokémon above level 73." He laughs, looking at the yellow fur, matted with blood, of the Pokémon struggling just to keep breathing. "I feel like I should ask for her autograph."

"She is also a he," Genevieve clarifies.

"I've never seen a male Ninetales before, either. I guess he's a pretty special Pokémon."

"I'll say." Gen frowns, stroking a hand between the Ninetales' ears. He whimpers and lifts his head just a bit, tongue coming out to lick her wrist affectionately. "Poor thing," she says, shaking her head again. "They really did a number on him."

Jared nods, looking down at the cup in his hand. "Is he gonna make it?"

"I think so," she answers, ever careful to keep Jared from getting his hopes too high. "He's a tough cookie, Jared. He should be fine."

"I guess that level explains why they were so desperate to keep me from freeing him," Jared says, hoping to distract himself. He licks his lips, not sure if he should really tell Gen the whole story. She worries too much. "They tried to get him to attack me."

He hears Genevieve drop something when he says that and braces himself for what's coming. "They did what?" she yells.

He drinks the water in his cup and sets it aside, struggling to his feet. "Calm down, he didn't do it."

He almost did. And when Jared finally got the poké ball shattered, the Ninetales had turned on that Rocket who'd been abusing him and Jared had shut his eyes tightly, turning his face away. He'd thought he would open them to find the Pokémon had torn out his former master's throat, and while Jared really wouldn't have blamed the Ninetales, it scared him, too. He'd never seen a Pokémon with that kind of fierce intelligence, with actual hatred in its eyes.

He's definitely not going to tell Genevieve about that part.

"I've never heard of someone trying to attack a human with a Pokémon before, Jared. That's—that's really sick. We have to tell someone—"

"Who, the police? They're all on the payroll." Jared limps across the Pokécenter, around the counter where he's technically not supposed to go, and stands next to Gen, looking down at the wounded animal on the bed. "What do you expect from Team Rocket?"

"Fuck, I knew it was bad but that's…"

"They're getting bolder. More powerful." Jared shakes his head and looks away. "And I'm just one person. I can't make a difference."

"Hey," Gen says as she takes Jared's hand and puts it over the Ninetales' side. Jared can feel the faint beat of its heart. "Tell that to this guy. He'd be dead or worse if it weren't for you."

Jared rolls his eyes.

Gen isn't having any of it. "I'm serious. Look, the fact that they were willing to do—that—just shows that you _are_ getting to them. They're scared of you."

"If they've got level 180 Pokémon, I'm damn well scared of them."

It's a horrifying thought. The things the Rockets could do with a Pokémon that powerful are unimaginable, and Jared feels a flush of shame touch his cheeks. He can't help thinking of all the things _he_ could do with a Pokémon that powerful. He could probably catch the Ninetales now, and then it would be an easy trip from gym-to-gym and straight to the Pokémon League Hall of Fame. He'd be the youngest to ever make it.

Jared shakes his head, hoping to distill the dreams that had driven him from home years ago, the ones he likes to think he abandoned shortly after. He liked being a trainer just fine, but the system is corrupt. Nearly all the gym leaders in Kanto grease their hands with Rocket money, and there's no way to play without becoming a part of all the ugly things they do.

"Makes you wonder how he got that powerful with the way they were treating him."

Jared's eyebrows draw together. "No, there's no way. They must have caught him after he'd hit 180. He wasn't obeying all of the master's orders, so we know the Rocket wasn't good enough to fully control him. And it just doesn't make sense."

"Well, he didn't get to 180 fighting Ratatas in the wild," Gen points out. "So what are we thinking? Stolen? From some big trainer?"

"Maybe," Jared says, biting his bottom lip. Somehow that doesn't add up, either. Someone that powerful losing a Pokémon they've invested 180 levels worth of work in would have been all over the news by now. "I don't know."

"Should we look for the rightful owner?"

"Rightful owner," Jared huffs. "What does that even mean?"

"Oh, here we go," Gen says, rolling her eyes and leaving the Ninetales to check on the Squirtle sleeping in the next bed over.

Jared isn't going to have this fight. Gen is one of his very few allies. Danneel and probably even Adrianne, nurses from the Pokécenters in Cerulean and Saffron city respectively, haven't called the cops on Jared yet only thanks to Gen's intervention. Not that he blames them for thinking he's some kind of sadistic Pokémon abuser with the number of severely mistreated Pokémon he brings in for care, but still. He grew up with Gen, back before she moved to Viridian and became a nurse, and she's the only person he really knows that he can talk to honestly about what he does. So he tries not to get in fights over whether owning Pokémon is wrong or not, especially not when her Chansey Ruby is waddling merrily along at her heels.

"I'm setting him free," Jared says in a tone that brooks no argument.

"Fine, fine," Gen replies waving her hand dismissively. "You're setting him free. That's great. No problem. Someone who really misses him might be distraught right now, and he may be missing them too, but okay. Let's send him out into the world for more Rockets to find him."

"He's a level 180 Pokémon. He doesn't exactly need protection."

Gen stands up straight and levels Jared with a heated look. "Then why is he here," she points to the bed to illustrate her point, "like this?"

"Look, I told you, I don't know how they caught him. But I'm not about to shove him back into a poké ball."

Gen sets her lips in a hard line. For a moment it looks like she's gonna keep up the fight, but finally her shoulders slump and the breath all leaves her, along with any remaining desire to push the issue. "You need a place to shack up tonight?"

Jared smiles, appreciating both the offer and the subject change. "I was thinking of heading home, actually. Say hi to the parents, play with Sadie."

Gen nods. "You sure? That's a pretty long walk through the forest. My shift's almost over. You can sleep off your foot injury and swing by in the morning when I come in again to see if this guy's ready to be released."

"That'd be great," Jared tells her after a short period of consideration. His misses his Growlithe, but going home always means his parents drilling him about when he's going to give up on this nonsense he does and get a real job. "I'll make you dinner."

"Mmm," she says, patting the Ninetales one last time and beginning to untie her apron when she sees Sandy, the night nurse, walk into the center. "Got any plans for where you're heading next?"

Jared shrugs. "I was thinking I'd try and finally see Cinnibar Island."

Under his hand, the Ninetales makes a whimpering sound and attempts to lift his head.

"Aww," Gen says. "He's sad you're leaving."

Jared gives the Pokémon one last gentle pat between the ears and starts limping back to his rightful place across the counter. Sandy gives him a look that's a cross between scolding and fond as she carries her Chansey to her work station. They both know he shouldn't have been back here, but this is not the first time she catches him breaking that rule and it probably won't be the last, either.

"How're you gonna get there? Planning to rent a surfing Pokémon and go the easy way from home, or be stubborn and try to swim there?" Gen finishes clocking out and joins Jared by the door.

He sends one last worried glance to the Ninetales on the second bed and then looks at his friend. "Actually, I hear the S.S. Anne is adding a stop in the islands. I was thinking of catching it in Vermillion."

"That'll be expensive."

Jared shrugs as he holds the door open for her. "It's a long way to Vermillion on foot. I figure I'll be able to save up enough for one ticket by then."

Gen just shakes her head, reaching up to pinch Jared's cheeks. "You are one wacky and weird individual."

By the next morning, both the Ninetales and Jared are back in working order. Jared feels a surge of hope, rare considering the kinds of things he fights on a day-to-day basis, when he comes into the center and finds the wounded Pokémon trotting around the recovery room with an almost smug air about him.

"He's got personality," Gen says as they watch him strut from wall to wall. "I'll give him that."

"He certainly does," Jared replies with a grin.

Now that he's not bleeding or crying or on the verge of death, Jared can see how truly gorgeous the Pokémon he rescued is. His muscles are strong and powerful, which is to be expected from a Pokémon as advanced as this one, but he's also got bright green eyes instead of the red ones Jared is used to seeing on this type of fire Pokémon and a smattering of brown dots disrupting the yellow fur on the bridge of his nose, almost like freckles.

He's tall, too, closer to four foot than the average three, but that part isn't news to Jared. He had carried the big ass Pokémon all the way here from Viridian Forest on his twisted ankle, and all those tails had doubled the weight if not more.

It's worth the struggle that was to see him so healthy and happy today.

"When are you gonna discharge him?" Jared asks.

Gen shrugs. "I'll run a few more tests once I clock in, then he should be ready to go."

"Mind if I stick around 'til then?"

"Nah," says Gen. "Be my guest."

About an hour later, Jared has had a breakfast of a few protein bars and the Ninetales is officially being released.

"You sure you don't want to rest that foot a few days longer?" Gen offers as she walks him and his temporary charge to the door. "I'd be happy to have you."

"My foot feels as good as he does," he says, inclining his head down at the Pokémon circling around their legs impatiently. "It's not even swollen anymore. You are a miracle worker. For Pokémon and humans alike."

Gen grins. "You know it," she says. "Now get the hell out of my Pokécenter."

Jared does as he's told. He sets off on his journey back toward the forest after some debate about whether to swing by Pallet Town, the Ninetales following at his side loyally. It keeps on at Jared's pace, and Jared thinks at first that he's just waiting until they reach tall, Pokémon-infested grass to exercise his new found right to stray, but the Ninetales sticks with him even through the forest.

Halfway to Pewter City, Jared stops walking and looks down at the Pokémon. "You planning to follow me all day?"

The Ninetales only tilts his head to one side like the question confuses him, which makes sense because it's not like a Pokémon is gonna understand what the fuck Jared is saying.

Jared tries another method, shooing at it with his hands. "Go on, get out of here," he says. "You're free now."

With a great air of annoyance, the Ninetales sits right where he is as if saying _I'm not going anywhere_.

Jared frowns, wondering if the poor animal thinks this is some kind of a test. He's never freed a hurt Pokémon and had it hesitate more than a second before running far and fast, but then, this one is exceptional on several levels, including just how badly he had been treated. "I'm not gonna hurt you like the Rockets did," he promises, sinking down to one knee and burying his fingers in the Pokémon's furry neck. "You don't have to be scared now. You can go wherever you want."

The Pokémon blinks twice, very slowly, and Jared can't help feeling like it's calling him an idiot. That's…probably just his imagination, though. Right?

"Are you calling me an idiot?" Jared asks. "Like, in your head?"

If that's not a nod the Ninetales gives him, Jared doesn't know what the hell to think. He stands back up. "Hey, man, I'm not the one hanging out instead of running off free."

Jared starts walking then and to his great chagrin, so does the Pokémon. He stops; it stops. He looks down at it; it looks up at him. He sighs; it huffs out a stubborn breath.

"Okay," he says, looking back up at the road ahead. "I'm just going to ignore you until you go away."

This works about as well as actively trying to get rid of the Pokémon had done, which is to say not at all. By the time the sun is beginning to set and Jared is considering setting up camp along Route 3, the Ninetales is still walking with him.

"That's a gorgeous Pokémon," a Lass tells him as he's beginning to pitch his tent. "Would you like to trade? I have a great Jigglypuff."

"Oh, no, he's not mine," Jared says, casting his eye over his shoulder. He'd forgotten the damn thing was there, or maybe he'd hoped just a little that one day of tailing (hah, tailing) him would have been enough and the Ninetales had gotten it out of his system and run off by now.

She raises an eyebrow pointedly. "He sure is very obedient for a wild Pokémon."

"Yeah right," Jared mutters under his breath.

The Ninetales growls softly, as if it heard him.

"Well, you're not," Jared tells it.

She smiles brightly. "So you don't mind if I try to catch it, then?"

Jared laughs. "Look, no offence, but this thing is going to tear your poor Jigglypuff to shreds if you try it. You're better off sticking to the truly wild Pokémon around here."

"I'm really good," she insists.

He smiles to himself, remembering that feeling. She must be just a few weeks from leaving home with one badge under her belt and fewer losses than victories. There's no way she's ready to take on a level 180 Ninetales and, even if there were, Jared would feel pretty guilty if he'd led the damn thing right back into captivity. "He doesn't like fighting."

The Lass makes an annoyed sound and tosses her hair. "I get that you don't want to trade your Pokémon, buddy, but you could have just said that from the jump instead of wasting my time."

She stomps off then, and Jared would feel worse if he didn't have such a sour taste in his mouth when it came to anyone willing to trade their supposedly cherished pet away as soon as something newer and more impressive looking comes along.

"I don't make very many friends, do I?" Jared jokes, looking to the Ninetales for an answer.

To his surprise, the Pokémon marches a few steps closer and nudges his head against Jared's hand gingerly. Almost like it's telling him he made at least one friend, and as much as that confuses him, Jared can't help feeling a little lighter for the company. It's a pretty lonely life Jared leads when he's on the road. Not that it isn't worth it. But, well, maybe he's kind of glad the Pokémon is still here after all.

He finishes setting up his tent and makes a pit for a bonfire, pulling a log he finds in some tall grass not far from his camp site to use as a chair. By the time he's retrieved it and brought it back, there's already a steady fire going in the pit. That usually takes Jared the better part of an hour to accomplish, and he's tired enough from the day's long walk to be thankful for it.

"You do come in handy, don't you?" he asks the fire Pokémon as he begins to cook his dinner.

It lifts its head from its paws and watches Jared closely for a few seconds before lying back down. _No shit_ , Jared interprets from the gesture, which is fair enough.

"You hungry?" he asks, tossing the Pokémon a piece of meat from his own meal.

The Ninetales chews it gleefully, and Jared sits by the fire for another hour or so, thinking over the day, with his new friend dozing in and out. He likes the quiet companionship, he thinks, and he grudgingly admits he's going to miss the Pokémon in the morning.

Or not.

"You're still here, huh?"

The Ninetales winds around his feet with way too much enthusiasm considering the time of day and gives a cheerful bark. Dammit, it makes Jared's chest ache in a good way, but he knows he shouldn't get attached.

"Alright, alright," Jared says, laughing as he tries to keep track of the Pokémon's excited movements. "Calm down there, man. I'm still half asleep."

To his unending shock, the Pokémon actually listens, ceasing his onslaught on Jared's legs and running a few feet away. He gives another excited bark, and Jared can't help thinking it wants him to follow and see something.

So Jared does, contemplating what he's going to make for breakfast as he walks until he reaches the Ninetales and sees a Pidgey at its feet.

Well, what do you know? He's got himself a hunting Pokémon.

"That makes things easier," Jared says, picking up the bird-type. He's relieved to see the job was done cleanly. The Ninetales didn’t play with his food. Hunting is not Jared's favorite thing about being on the road, but it's a necessary evil, and Jared's just glad his new companion was humane about it. Or, you know, whatever the word for humane is when it's a Pokémon that does it.

"C'mon, let's get another fire going and I'll make us breakfast."

The Ninetales shakes his head, cheerfully indicating the remains of another Pidgey.

Once they've both eaten, Jared packs his things into his backpack and gives the Ninetales a friendly pat on the head to let him know he'll be on the move again. "You don't have to come with me," he explains. "I'm going through Mount Moon, which is a pain in the ass at best and literally impossible if no one has flashed the cave. I don't have a flashing Pokémon, obviously, so I usually just wait until…"

He realizes he's explaining this to a Pokémon and makes a note to stop in a bar once he reaches Cerulean and get some actual human conversation in before he snaps.

"Anyway," he says, kneeling down. "I'm gonna miss you, but I think you're gonna be okay out here."

The Pokémon licks his hand and makes a sad sound when Jared starts walking away. Jared looks back and sees it sitting right where he left it, watching him with big, green eyes. It looks…it looks kind of like he hurt its feelings.

"I didn't mean you can't come if you want to?" he tries, even though it's a damn Pokémon and he knows it's not going to understand—

The Ninetales sprints to his side, its tails all swaying in the wind as it runs. When it stops next to Jared, looking up as if it's just waiting for direction, Jared passes a hand over his face.

"My life is weird," he says.

A head butts into his legs, urging him to get moving already, and Jared snorts as he starts walking.

Mount Moon is pitch black when they step inside, and Jared's heart sinks, anticipating a long wait until a trainer with flash comes along to help him. Then a bright light breaks out at his side, and Jared realizes that his—no, not his, just the—Ninetales did it.

Jared's pretty sure that's not even a move it's possible for a Ninetales to do. This one is just full of surprises. He thinks of all the Zubats he _won't_ accidentally walk into (okay, so sue him, Zubats creep Jared right the fuck out) and can't help wondering how he got on so long without a Pokémon to help him. "You're a joy to be around," he tells the Ninetales.

The Pokémon makes a face like he could not agree more.

"I guess if you're going to be hanging around, I should think of a name for you, huh?" Jared is sitting by yet another wonderful fire, camping out about halfway through Mount Moon. Current unwanted Zubat interaction count: 0. Today has been a good day. "I can't just keep calling you 'that damn Ninetales that won't leave me alone.'"

In a matter of seconds, the fire is snuffed out by one big orange-tipped tail and the light that had been leading Jared through this long system of caves gets pulled back into the Ninetales it had been emitting from. Jared can just feel the Zubats drawing in.

"I was kidding!" he says. "I was kidding!"

The Ninetales lets him think about what he's done a few seconds longer before the light shines out again and he begins a carefully controlled ember to get the fire back.

"How about Wishbone?" Jared offers.

The Ninetales gives him a flat look. _See how fast I turn the lights back off, asshole_ , it seems to say.

"Okay, that's a no then." Jared thinks a little longer. "Brady? Priestly?"

It's not hard to tell just how unimpressed the Pokémon is by Jared's attempts. "I notoriously suck at naming Pokémon," Jared explains. "I grew up with a Growlithe named Sadie, dude. Sadie is not a Growlithe name. You gotta cut me a break here."

The Ninetales shakes his head. Vain little bastard that he is, he's not going to let Jared off the hook.

"I could just give you a number," Jared muses. He pulls a few random letters and numbers out of his ass. "How about I call you X5-495?"

Head tilted to the left, Ninetales makes a great point.

"Yeah," Jared agrees. "I'm never going to remember that."

The Pokémon huffs as if laughing, little clouds of smoke curling from his nostrils as he does so.

"How about Dean?" Jared tries.

The Ninetales gives Jared a subtle eye roll as if to say _if you must_ and then settles at Jared's feet for a nap.

They make it through Mount Moon and out into the open air around noon the next day, which is a record for Jared. He's usually stuck in that hell maze for days on days—one time he was lost for a week, but he doesn't like to talk about that. It's the reason Mount Moon is pretty much Jared's least favorite place in Kanto, but it was almost pleasant with Dean at his side.

The Ninetales is now responding to his name, so Jared thinks that makes it all pretty official. 

Route 4 to Cerulean is a quick trip, but Jared's tired from a day climbing up and down through the cave, so he decides to take it easy. He'll walk to town at a leisurely pace with plenty of breaks and then maybe find a bar and hotel to eat, drink, and be merry. Cerulean is a nice city—not the biggest in Kanto, but that doesn't bother Jared. He's a small town boy at heart, and Celadon City's overabundant size and population has always made him nervous, even before it was crawling with Rockets.

"Wanna take a break here?" Jared offers, turning to Dean. They've reached a nice spot along the route, shady trees and a lake with a cool breeze rolling off it.

To his surprise, Dean runs off immediately. Jared tries not to wonder if the Pokémon will come back, just takes a deep breath and leans against the wooden fence in front of him, looking out on the lake. Probably, Dean just needs to pee or stretch his legs a little. Anyway, it's none of Jared's business whether he stays or goes.

The lake is still enough to reflect the sky perfectly, and Jared watches the gorgeous pink and oranges of the sunset beginning to move over the surface. He closes his eyes, leaning into the refreshing wind brushing by him, so it catches him completely off guard when someone standing just to his right says, "Nice night, huh?"

Jared opens his eyes and looks over, surprised that someone else happened to wander into the same clearing as Jared at the same time. Then he has to do a double take and turn his whole body to better see the stranger, because standing next to him is basically the hottest guy he's ever seen in his life.

"What? I…yeah."

The man smirks a little, like he knows exactly why Jared's so hard-up for clever conversation starters, and something about that smug look, the smart edge in his deep green eyes, and the light brown freckles on his cheeks feels weirdly familiar.

But Jared would remember meeting this guy, definitely.

"Do I know you?" he asks anyway.

The guy laughs softly and pulls a box of cigarettes out of his pocket. "That the best you could come up with?" he asks as he tucks one between his lips and lights it. He holds the box out, offering Jared a smoke, but Jared shakes his head.

"No thanks," he says. "I don't smoke. And, I, uh, wasn't hitting on you. I mean, I would gladly hit on you if you would like that. But you really do look familiar."

The man smiles as he blows out a small cloud of smoke. It doesn't smell like a cigarette, more like something charred. Like barbecue, or the fires Dean's been making for Jared the last couple of days.

Dean, right. Jared looks around anxiously for the Pokémon, but then he gets distracted by the guy next to him putting a hand on his wrist. The touch is warm and sends a rush through Jared like the man just breathed a flame right under Jared's skin. "We haven't met," the stranger says. "I'm Jensen."

"Jensen," Jared says, looking from the hand up to the man's intense gaze and then back down again. "I'm Jared."

"Yes, Jared," he says, like he already knew that. "It's nice to meet you, Jared."

"You, uh, you too," Jared replies stupidly, still a little struck by the mysterious stranger and his sudden appearance. "What brings you out here?"

The man, Jensen, licks his lips and looks away. "It's a long story," he says. "You?"

"My Ninetales, Dean, and I are—well, he's not really _my_ Ninetales. He's just my friend, I guess? Well, anyway, we're trying to get to Vermillion to catch the S.S. Anne. Or…I'm doing that and he's kind of just following me until whenever."

Jared's rambling. He shuts his mouth as soon as he realizes he's rambling and wants to kick himself for being so bad at this right now. Hottest man in the world walks up to him and he's ranting about his travel plans.

Jensen doesn't seem too bothered by Jared's verbal diarrhea, though. "I hate to break it to you, buddy, but I don't see any Ninetales, and your poké ball belt is empty. I think you may have lost it."

Jared shakes his head. "No, he's just doing his own stuff." Jared feels his cheeks growing hot. "I don't have a poké ball for him or anything like that."

He leaves it there, determined not to get into a fight about Pokémon rights with someone who looks like Jensen standing in front of him. That mouth would be wasted on fighting.

Oh, fuck. Jared swallows hard and rips his eyes away from Jensen's mouth, hoping against hope that his staring wasn't too obvious.

"That's very trusting of you," Jensen says before taking another drag from his cigarette.

Jared shrugs. "Where are you headed?"

"Cerulean," Jensen says, sounding bored. "Then who knows where?" He flashes Jared a smile that even Jared can tell is flirtatious. "Do you wanna keep exchanging small talk, or can I suck you off?"

Jared's eyes widen, and he's about to ask if he misheard that, but then Jensen drops his cigarette and stomps it out, and before Jared can really process what's going on, Jensen is on his knees in front of him, shoving Jared back so that his ass presses against the wooden fence as he works at the buttons of Jared's jeans. Jared is getting hard before Jensen even takes his dick out and starts to stroke it.

What follows is probably the most glorious blowjob of Jared's life, no exaggeration, and Jared's had some pretty glorious blowjobs. Jensen's mouth is clever and practiced and basically sculpted for the express purpose of having a cock between his lips, and Jared comes so fast it's a downright shame. That was not a blowjob Jared wanted to waste. That was a blowjob Jared wanted to happen all the time or maybe even more often than that.

Jensen stands up with a self-satisfied look on his face, his hands tucking Jared back into his pants as he leans in for a kiss. Jared can taste himself on Jensen's tongue, and it makes his legs tremble.

"I've wanted to do that since the first time I saw you," Jensen whispers, which is a pretty weird thing to hear from a guy he just met half an hour ago.

Jared doesn't point it out. Jensen could proclaim crazy old Professor Kripke president of Kanto right now, and Jared would be inclined to agree with him. He just draws Jensen in for a deeper kiss, wanting to taste more of what Jensen just pulled out of him.

He breaks the kiss to suck at Jensen's jaw, letting his nose trail down and rub into Jensen's neck. "Can I return the favor?" Jared asks, hands moving down, one slipping up Jensen's shirt to feel his chest and the other attempting to grope his cock.

To his disappointment, Jensen catches him by the wrist and pushes his hand away. He smiles apologetically when Jared pulls back to give him a puzzled look and almost sounds sad when he says, "No, no need. I just wanted you."

"That was…" Jared licks his lips and looks down, trying to contain his smile. "Thanks, I guess?"

Jensen laughs. "I have a gift. Might as well share it."

"You certainly do," Jared agrees. "Are you—do you want to get dinner in the city? Maybe grab a few drinks?" He wonders just how presumptive he can get away with being, and then he remembers that Jensen basically walked up to him and sucked his dick. "I was planning to get a room tonight. We could split it."

Jensen shakes his head. "Places to be, you know. It was nice to, uh," Jensen scratches the back of his neck and smiles out of one side of his mouth, "nice to talk to you, though."

Jared nods, trying not to let the rejection sting. "Yeah, you too."

Jensen begins to walk toward the path, so Jared calls him back. "Jensen, wait."

Jensen pauses, then turns slowly. "What?"

"If we cross paths again, can I buy you a drink?"

Jensen's smile seems to brighten everything around them, like a Pokémon somewhere nearby just flashed and even the darkening blue of the early night sky can't fight it. "Definitely."

"Wanna give me any hints where I can find you? Are you a trainer, heading to the gyms maybe?"

"Nope," Jensen says quietly. "Not a trainer. I don't believe in catching Pokémon."

Jared's mouth drops open, and he blinks a few times, too dazed by this entire weird encounter and by that last comment especially. No one has ever come to that conclusion without Jared having to state his argument before, and between that, the improbable good looks, and the skill that went into that blowjob, Jared has to wonder if he hallucinated Jensen altogether.

"Figures," Jared mutters staring at the winding road of Route 4 where Jensen is no longer even a black dot in the distance. "I meet the perfect man and he's gone before I can think of something to say."

Jared feels something wet on his fingers and looks down to see Dean is licking at them. He smiles and gives the Ninetales the attention he's so desperately begging for, rubbing the fur between his ears. At least he doesn't have to question whether Dean wants him around.

"I hope you just met a hot lady Ninetales and had as good a break as I did," Jared tells Dean.

Dean almost looks like he shrugs before he starts walking back to the path.

When Jared and Dean reach Cerulean, it's later than Jared had been planning on, and, since what slowed them down was a pretty great blowjob from a stranger along the way, he decides to skip the bar portion of the night and just get a room and some food.

The motel he ends up in only has doubles, so Jared laughs as he opens the door. "Well, Dean, looks like you get your own bed tonight."

Annoyingly rebellious as ever, Dean sits on the extra bed until Jared slides under the covers of his own, turning off the light and wishing the Pokémon a goodnight. Then he feels something big jump up onto his mattress, and before he knows what's up, the ends of three long tails are in his face.

Jared pushes them away. "No, boy," he says. "Down. Go sleep on your bed."

Dean just lifts his head from Jared's feet where he'd been resting it and sticks his tongue out before settling back down.

"It's a twin bed," Jared tells the Ninetales, damn near pleading, "and you're huge."

The Pokémon narrows his eyes.

"Okay," Jared says, lifting his hands in a pacifying gesture. "We're both huge. But that's why we each get our own bed."

Then Dean moves his body a little, just enough that Jared can relax and be mostly comfortable. Dean gives him a pleading look, and Jared sighs, completely defeated. "You're not nearly as cute as you think you are," he lies.

Dean is already asleep.

Jared meets Jensen again much sooner than he could have hoped.

He decides to take a detour—a big detour—when leaving Cerulean the next morning. Normally, to get to Vermillion and the S.S. Anne, Jared would head south through Saffron. It's not a terribly quick journey, either. About a week on foot, maybe longer. But Jared's in no rush—is maybe even trying to buy a little time if he's being honest. There's no way he'll be able to afford a ticket for both himself and a Pokémon on the cruise, and even if he could, it wouldn't be fair to trap Dean like that. But he'll miss the company, even if the Ninetales is a huge pain in his ass most of the time.

Like right now, for instance. "Dude, calm down. I have no idea what you're trying to tell me."

Dean just keeps circling him excitedly, biting at the air just around Jared's feet as if to get him to walk faster.

"Ugh," Jared whines, shaking his leg. "You know what would help me walk faster? If I'd gotten any sleep at all last night instead of having your giant ass in my space."

The Pokémon makes a wounded face, and, before Jared gets a chance to apologize, he runs off down the path ahead of them.

They're on their way to Jared's friend Misha's seaside cottage. Jared has no idea if Dean knows that, but the path is fairly easy to follow and he's a smart Pokémon. He'll find his way to Jared if he wants to.

Misha lives about a day's walk outside of Cerulean City on his own private beach. He's somewhat of a mad genius when it comes to Pokémon and struck gold a few years back when he invented the Pokédex. Ever since, he's lived out here in the middle of nowhere. He has his Pokémon for company: the biggest collection Jared's ever seen, and he doesn't keep them locked up or fight them, they stay of their own volition. That's good enough for Jared. He tries to visit Misha whenever he gets a chance, and Misha is always a generous host.

Jared doesn't make it to the cottage until well after sundown. Dean never reappeared after running off, which Jared supposes is his own fault, but a part of him is still hoping the Pokémon only needed some time to cool off and that he beat Jared to Misha's place and is now being fed and pampered and will be waiting for Jared as soon as he arrives.

When he knocks at Misha's door and his friend opens it, the first thing out of Jared's mouth is, "Have you seen a Ninetales by any chance?"

"I've seen over 700 Ninetales," Misha replies blandly. "Or as we used to say when I still spoke to humans, 'hello.'"

Jared laughs lightly, wrapping an arm around Misha and patting him on the back. "Hey man, it's nice to see you."

"Yes, it must be," Misha agrees. "I'm very easy on the eyes."

"But in all seriousness, has a Ninetales been by in the last few hours?"

Misha lifts an eyebrow. "You keeping Pokémon now, Padalecki?"

"More like he was keeping me," Jared says. "I guess he got tired of that."

"Can't say I really blame him," says another voice in the room. Jared hadn't even noticed there was anyone else here. The chances of Misha having any guest at all, let alone two at once, are about as good as the chances of a Dragonite losing to a Magikarp.

He looks away from Misha and around the room. Sitting at one of the desks, relaxed as if it was his own lab, is Jensen.

"You're one to talk," Jared says, only half teasing. "You're the one he seems to be avoiding."

"You two know each other?" Misha asks, looking from Jared to Jensen and back again.

Jensen smirks out of one side of his mouth, a dirty expression that makes Jared heat up all over again. "Quite intimately."

Misha lifts two hands. "No further details will be required."

Jensen huffs out a laugh and looks down to the table; Jared feels himself blush and scratches at the back of his neck. He decides to change the subject. "I was gonna ask to stay the night, but I'm guessing you're all full up?"

"Nonsense," Jensen says before Misha gets a chance to respond. "I'm very good at sharing."

The man knows no shame.

"I do only have one guest room," Misha replies after a bit. "You guys figure that out amongst yourselves. I'm going to go to bed and I wish to hear nothing more about it."

"Aw, but I just got here," Jared whines, trying to catch Misha's arm and drag him back into the room. "Don't you want to talk at me about things I'll politely pretend to understand? Don't you want to hear about my adventures?"

"Tomorrow, brave explorer." Misha waves him off. "I had to get up at the crack of dawn to study the electromagnetic resonance of my Magnetite when combined with the—"

"Okay, okay," Jared says, stopping him before he keeps himself up all night just trying to get his excuse across. "Tomorrow. But, uh, I don't suppose you have any food I can dig through?"

"Jensen made dinner," Misha says, throwing a thankful smile in the aforementioned Jensen's direction. "And he accidentally made way too much. What a fortuitous accident!"

Misha exits the room in a rush, leaving Jared alone with Jensen and what looks to be a hardy Tentacool stew. Still smoking hot, not unlike the guy standing at the pot serving a bowl for Jared.

"Thanks," he says as he takes a seat at the desk Jensen had been using as a dining room table.

"Yeah, no problem," Jensen replies, setting the bowl down in front of Jared. "Misha really needs to get some human-oriented furniture, huh?"

"Good luck trying to sell him on that." Jared takes a spoonful of the soup and blows before putting it to his lips. It still burns his tongue, but it's worth the pain. "Holy crap," he says once he's swallowed. "This is so, so good."

Jensen's smile is almost modest, making it the first even moderately modest thing he's done in the short time Jared's known him. "There's plenty of extra if you want more. I'll bet you're hungry."

Jared doesn't say much else as he finishes his first bowl. Jensen's right—he's starving after a long day of walking with no snack breaks, and even though he got a decent meal in the city last night, it's been months since he had anything that could even pass as a home-cooked meal.

"You didn't tell me you were coming here," Jared says as he watches Jensen walk across the room to refill his bowl again. He seized on the empty dish as soon as Jared put it down, and Jared's tired enough to let a stranger wait on him if Jensen is so eager to do it. "How crazy is this?"

"You didn't tell me, either," Jensen points out, setting the food down in front of Jared. "To think, we could have taken this whole trip together. Think of all the lost orgasms."

"Hey, I offered to share a room," Jared reminds him.

Jensen smiles to himself, taking the seat across from Jared. "Well, looks like that's in the cards after all."

Jared coughs. "So how do you know Misha?" Okay, so he has no game, but he doesn't really know how to carry on conversations in Jensen's direct style. 

"My family helped him out back when he was first trying to get the Pokédex off the ground."

"Ah," Jared says, grinning as he leans back in his seat. "So you're a somebody, huh?"

Jensen shrugs.

"C'mon, don't be modest," Jared tells him.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Jensen replies. "I'm no one but a friend of a friend. Who happens to give exceptional blowjobs."

"Exceptional," Jared confirms. He points his spoon down into his nearly empty bowl and adds, "And makes exceptional soup."

"You're probably just imagining it's better than it is because you're hungry." Jared shakes his head, but Jensen rolls his eyes and changes the subject. "How about you? How do you know our nutty acquaintance?"

"Professor Kripke put us in contact, back when I was still trying to be a Pokémon master." Jared ducks his head in shame, even though that's not something people generally are embarrassed about. Rare is the person under thirty these days who never chased dreams of catching all 150 Pokémon or sweeping every gym in Kanto. "The first time we met, he'd turned himself into a Pokémon."

"I feel like that should be a really improbable story, but it's Misha."

Jared nearly snorts. "Yeah, it was surprising at the time. In retrospect? Just a day in the life."

Jensen stands to collect Jared's dish and takes it to the sink, grabbing a bottle and two glasses from the cabinet on his way back to the desk. He really does seem as comfortable here as Jared would be in his own home if he still had one, and Jared wonders for a brief moment if it's weird that he feels a little jealous. Then Jensen starts pouring red wine and Jared gets distracted. "Any Pokémon in particular he'd turned himself into?"

"Oh, yeah. A Nidoran♀."

There's a moment of hesitation as Jensen pours, and in that half a second, the wine nearly spills all over the table. "I'm sorry," Jensen says when Jared reaches out to steady his wrist. "But you did mean he was a Nidoran♂, right?"

Jared shakes his head. "To this day, I still haven’t figured out if he was trying to turn himself into a girl, a Pokémon, neither, or both. But that's how I found him."

"Probably for the best you didn't ask too many questions," Jensen says. "With Misha, usually, that's the safest route."

"Tell me about it." Jared takes a slow sip of his drink and watches closely as Jensen does the same. The wine leaves a slight red stain on Jensen's mouth.

After a few seconds, Jensen picks up the conversation. "You said you know Professor Kripke. _The_ Professor Kripke?"

"We're from the same town. He's our one and only claim to fame, but in a town as small as ours, everyone knows everyone. Even the celebrities."

"What town is that?"

Jared fiddles with his wine glass. "You've probably never heard of it. No one has."

"Try me," says Jensen, giving Jared a sharp look.

"Pallet Town."

Jensen grins. "Just north of Cinnibar Island."

"Yup!" Jared smiles, genuinely surprised that Jensen knows it, but in the best possible way. "You been?"

"Can't say I've had the pleasure," Jensen admits. "But I'm from Cinnibar, so we're almost neighbors."

"Get out," Jared replies. "You didn't tell me that when I told you I was going there."

Jensen gives him a smarmy wink. "We weren't talking much."

"Well, since then," says Jared.

"I suck at telling people things," Jensen admits, as if Jared hadn't noticed yet. "Why Cinnibar?"

"The islands are the only part of Kanto I've never seen."

"What?" Jensen asks with a raised eyebrow. "Living so close?"

"Never had a surfing Pokémon." Jared spreads his hands out. "There wasn't any other way to get there until the S.S. Anne added it to their route."

"That's hilarious," Jensen says. "You're going all the way around just to get somewhere an hour away, tops."

"And having a great journey in between." Jared looks up into Jensen's eyes and lets his voice drop. "Meeting some interesting people."

"Tell me," Jensen says, raising his glass to his lips, "what are you doing, really?"

"It's stupid," Jared replies, not because he believes it but because it's how everyone responds when he tells them, and he's tired of hearing it from strangers.

"No, it's not. Whatever it is." Jensen reaches into his pocket to get a cigarette and lights it. "Anyone who tells you that is stupid."

"I wander around aimlessly searching for abusive poké masters and freeing their Pokémon," Jared says, all in one breath. "And I've saved a lot of lives, so don't tell me all Pokémon want to be with their masters or whatever the Pokémon League bullshit is these days because it's not true and I've seen that it's not."

To his surprise, Jensen doesn't laugh at him when he finishes. He takes a long, thoughtful drag from his cigarette and lets the smoke out slowly. "You're right, you know. They're wrong."

He stares at Jensen for a long minute. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better about myself? Because you don't really have to lie to me to get into my pants."

Jensen purses his lips and gives a curt shake of his head. "I think it's really beautiful, what you do. I bet those Pokémon you free are very grateful to you."

Jared has to wonder if Jensen's just poking fun at him, but he sounds completely sincere. Jared's eyebrows draw together, so used to being ridiculed that he's not sure how to respond to seemingly genuine support. "I hope so," he finally answers. "I mean, I don't know what Pokémon think any better than anyone else, but I try to do what's best for them."

After a few seconds of searching Jared's face, Jensen flicks the ashes off his cigarette and looks down at the smoking end of it. "I think you understand them better than you give yourself credit for. I'd bet it makes them uncomfortable, even, being so well understood by a human."

Laughing, Jared finishes his drink and pours himself another. "What are you even talking about?"

Jensen looks up then as if he's coming out of a daze. He shakes his head to clear it, takes a long sip, and swallows. "Nothing," he says. He rubs at his forehead with the hand holding the cigarette, and Jared worries for a second that he'll burn himself. "Nothing, just thinking. Weird day, that's all."

Jared sits up a little straighter. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No," Jensen replies, smiling dismissively. "Decidedly not."

"You're so mysterious," Jared teases, wiggling his fingers. "I bet all this mystery is just a trick to keep me interested."

"Are you?" Jensen asks. "Interested?"

Jared decides not to pad Jensen's ego with an honest answer to that, so he keeps on talking shit. "You're probably something really boring like a janitor or an accountant."

Jensen laughs. "I can promise you, no one has ever counted on me to clean up after myself or others and definitely not to keep track of money."

"You're not gonna tell me what you do, are you?"

"What made you decide to start rescuing Pokémon?" Jensen asks, propping his elbow on the desk and resting his chin on it. It's such a clear subject change that Jared just decides to give up and let the hot mysterious stranger act do its work.

"I was a trainer back in the day, like everyone else on the planet." Jared gives Jensen a self-deprecating smile, and Jensen chuckles. "I got three badges and then I met a gang of Rockets in Cerulean who were using Pokémon to try to rob a bank. Knew damn well whoever went in the vaults might not come back, so they were sending Pokémon in, the cowards. They tried to recruit me—told me the whole plan and promised I'd be a Pokémon master in no time if I joined up."

"Did you?"

Jared shakes his head. "Nah, even then I wasn't desperate enough to be famous to be okay with that. I tried to stop them." Jared swallows hard, averting his eyes. "I should have just gotten the hell out of dodge."

Jensen reaches out, putting one hand over Jared's. "What happened?"

It's a story Jared probably wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with a near-stranger three drinks back, but, unfortunately, this is not three drinks back, and Jared has been waiting for someone willing to listen to him for too long. It practically falls out. "I held them back long enough for the police to show up, but they…they killed my Charmander. He was my best friend. My first Pokémon. Professor Kripke gifts one Pokémon to all the aspiring trainers from Pallet Town, since we'd, you know, never have a fucking chance to get anywhere any other way."

Jensen's frowning when Jared dares to look up. "I'm so sorry, Jared."

"Don't apologize to me," he says. "I'm the one that got Sammy killed."

"You were trying to help," Jensen tells him.

Jared shrugs. "Most of the guys didn't even get tried for it. The sonofabitch that killed my Charmander was in jail for less than a year before he was back with Team Rocket, but they put—" Jared covers his mouth, takes a deep breath, and continues. "They put down all the Pokémon that were involved in the robbery. I tried to save them and I got them all killed instead."

"Jared." Jensen stands up and circles the table, wrapping an arm around him from behind. Jared finds the contact oddly comforting. Jensen smells familiar, but before Jared can pull himself together enough to identify the scent, Jensen has already let go. He gives Jared's shoulder one last friendly squeeze and then refills Jared's glass. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

Jared shakes his head and forces a smile. "Anyway, I freed the rest of my Pokémon that night and haven't kept one since. Well, except Dean, but I have a feeling he wouldn't follow me around if he knew what an idiot I am."

"You're not an idiot," Jensen insists, putting out his cigarette.

"Agree to disagree. Anyway, I've been trying to fight back against Rocket in what modest ways I can without any money, friends, or Pokémon to help me out. It's not all that much, really, but at least the only life I risk is my own."

"You're too hard on yourself," Jensen tells him. "You're a hero. You've saved so many since then."

"What makes you so sure?"

Jensen smiles faintly. "I've got good instincts," he says, and Jared has noticed that he seems to be one step ahead of almost everything Jared tells him—already guessed—so maybe that's the truth.

They sit quietly for a few minutes, and then Jared bursts out with an awkward laugh. Jensen looks over at him like he's crazy, so Jared explains himself. "I really killed the mood here, didn't I?"

Jensen smiles just a little. "Nah," he says. "I still want in your pants."

They finish another bottle between the two of them and don't head to the guest bedroom until a little over two hours have passed. Their conversation gets light and easy and fun pretty quickly, and they only stop talking when their mouths get too busy doing other things.

Mostly making out, but there's some neck sucking and biting going on, too. It's a good night in Jared's book, and they haven't even made it to the—

Jensen shoves Jared back and he trips onto the mattress, laughing as he falls ass first. "Wow, we were closer to the bedroom than I realized."

"Mmm," Jensen says, pulling off his shoes and tossing them across the room. "You just weren't paying attention while we were walking."

"Guilty," Jared agrees.

He pulls his shirt off over his head and shoves his pants away so he's wearing nothing but his boxers. Jensen does the same and then climbs into bed.

As soon as Jensen is next to him, he pulls Jared in for a kiss and Jared presses his palm flat against the bare skin of Jensen's belly, desperate to slip his fingers under the fabric of his underwear and touch. "I still owe you," he says, smiling woozily against Jensen's neck, a mix of alcohol and being so turned on he'd be drunk even if he were sober.

Jensen catches his hand and wraps his fingers in Jared's pulling it up and away. "No, I owe you."

Jared laughs, face still flush against Jensen. "What could you possibly owe me for?"

There's a kiss against Jared's temple and then it moves down to his mouth. Jensen's hand—the one that isn't still holding Jared's—cups Jared's cheek, and the kiss is really kind of weirdly tender in a way that should confuse Jared and would if it didn't feel so nice. "I'm going to owe you forever."

"Whatever," Jared replies with a laugh. "Then let me suck you because I really fucking want to."

"You don't," Jensen insists. He lets go of Jared's hand and moves down, palming at Jared's dick through the thin layer of cotton. "Just let me take care of you, okay?"

"Do you have a small dick?" Jared asks, turning his face into Jensen's shoulder. "Because that's nothing to be ashamed of. I'll like it. I can work with whatever—" Jared finally manages to get a grip between Jensen's legs, and he feels his eyes widen. "Fuck. Fuck. You're _huge_."

To Jared's unending disappointment, Jensen pushes his hand away before he can figure out just how huge.

"Don't, Jared. Just trust me."

But Jared is not about to give up on something that glorious without a fight. "Are you worried I can't take it? Because I'm pretty sure I can take it. I would really, really like to try to take it. Boy, would I ever like to try."

Jensen laughs, still not letting Jared near his dick. "I'm sure you'd take it like a champ."

He moves quickly, way faster than Jared expects or is ready for, and as soon as his fist is inside Jared's boxers and pressed all against his cock, Jared forgets what he was complaining about. Jensen's grip is rough and sure and he's a fucking monster, working fast and then slow and then fast, making sure Jared is right on the edge of coming but never quite there for so long Jared's got tears in his eyes from how bad he needs it before Jensen finally finishes him off with a skilled twist at the head of his dick.

Once his breath evens out, Jared turns onto his side, about to get back to insisting Jensen at least let him return the handjob, but then Jensen brushes his fingers through Jared's hair and leans in for a slow kiss.

The feeling Jared had thought was only his deluded memory of his and Jensen's first meeting returns, a hot pulse just under his skin that doesn't burn but feels so good it kills every other thought in his mind.

"You must be tired after such a long day," Jensen whispers. "You should sleep."

"But—" he says, the word cut short by a heavy yawn.

"And don't worry about your Ninetales," Jensen adds, giving Jared a faint smile. "I know you're still worrying. He'll come back to you."

"How do you know that?" Jared asks, even though he can hardly keep his eyes open.

Jensen's lips press against his for less than a second. "I promise. Stop thinking and sleep now."

Jared has so many things he still wants to ask, but he can’t fight the urge to close his eyes and drift away.

Jared wakes up the next morning alone. He has to hand it to Jensen that he's really got this mystery man thing down to an art form, but it’s just about starting to piss Jared off.

He stumbles out of bed and into his clothing as quickly as he can manage in the hopes that Jensen will just be out in the lab with Misha, assisting in some crackpot experiment or making breakfast.

There's breakfast when he reaches the lab, and Misha wearing a helmet that screams 'crackpot experiment,' but no Jensen as far as he can tell.

"Jensen?"

"Actually, my name is Misha," Misha replies. "Or as we used to say back when I still spoke to humans, 'good morning.'"

"Good morning," says Jared. "Where's Jensen?"

"He left hours ago," Misha says apologetically. "Said he had a big day ahead of him."

"Who _is_ he?" Jared asks.

"Jensen Ackles, of course," Misha answers. As if that fucking says _anything_ useful. Jared loves Misha like a brother, he really does, but sometimes he just wants to grab the guy and shake him until his social skills knock into place.

Then Misha says the only thing that can adequately distract Jared from his annoyance. "You still looking for that Ninetales?"

"Dean?" Jared says, putting his hands on Misha's shoulders eagerly. "You've seen Dean?"

"He's around back," Misha replies, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "Or at least I assume it's him. Showed up about twenty minutes ago, demanding to be fed like he's the Emperor of Tohjo Falls and I'm lucky just to share my rations with him."

Jared grins. "That's Dean alright!"

Misha laughs. "So now that I'm a little better rested, you gonna fill me in on your life and particularly the Ninetales thing?"

By the time Jared is done telling Misha about everything he's gotten into since he last stopped by and listened to Misha relate his work (which is as fascinating in its successes as it is hilarious in its failures), the sun has long since set and Jared decides to stay one more night at the cottage before setting out on the week-long trek to Saffron and Vermillion.

He leaves the next morning with Dean at his side, the Pokémon apparently completely over whatever insult of Jared's sent him off in such a huff the day before.

They get a room in Cerulean for one night and then head south toward Saffron City. By the time they clear the city limits, they've been walking for nearly four days straight without a real bed, a decent meal, or, god forbid, a shower that doesn't involve Jared skinny dipping in rivers and hoping against hope no one spots him.

"I'm going to hang around in town for a few days and try to relax before we hit the road again," Jared tells Dean as they pass through the welcome center. "It might be boring for you, though, so you don't have to hang out. Route 7 has great hunting, or so I'm told. You might like it there."

Dean nods and looks toward the west exit out of the city like he's excited to get going. He's probably getting pretty tired of following Jared from one town to another. Sooner or later he'll run off into tall grass and not come back. Jared knows that's what he's supposed to be hoping for, but the thought makes his chest ache.

"I'm going to get a room at the inn near Silph Co., okay? So…if you want to come back, just meet me there tomorrow morning. I'll tell the concierge to call me if a Ninetales wanders in."

Dean licks his hand and saunters off in the direction Jared recommended, and Jared watches him go, letting out a heavy sigh.

Right, so, drinking. He's already finishing up his fourth drink when he sees someone take the empty stool next to him out of the corner of his eye. Jared doesn't pay the newcomer much attention until he hears their deep, rich voice.

"I'll have a Jinx's Kiss on the rocks, and his drinks are on me."

Jared's head snaps up, and he looks over to see Jensen watching him with an amused look on his face. "Jensen?"

"You couldn't look any more pathetic sitting here drinking by yourself, man." Jensen's smile turns to something a little more genuine. "You alright? Have a bad break up with your Ninetales who isn't really your Ninetales or something?"

"Oh, no," Jared says. "Dean's great."

"Uh huh." Jensen raises an eyebrow. "You know, I hate to point out the obvious, but he's not around now, either. Starting to suspect he doesn't really exist."

"He totally exists," Jared replies stubbornly. "He just doesn't like you because you smell."

Jensen laughs. "Sure, sure. You tell yourself that."

"He's off hunting!" Jared insists. "He's totally real."

Jensen twirls his finger in the air to imply Jared's crazy, and Jared laughs, pouncing out to push his hand down. "Don't be cute."

"I'm always cute," says Jensen. "If you learn only one thing about me, let it be that."

"It's all you've told me about you," Jared takes a sip from his beer, "so I guess I don't have much of a choice."

"That's how I like all my men," Jensen tells him in a confidential whisper. "Completely out of the loop."

"Well, I live in a tent and don't talk to anyone but my Ninetales, so you can't get more out of it than I am," Jared says with a laugh. Then he frowns at Jensen. "Hey, wait a minute, I thought you said I could buy you a drink next time we bumped into each other."

"I lied," Jensen says. "You don't have a job."

"How do you know that?"

"You told me what you do," Jensen reminds him. "At Misha's? It was like a week ago. You can't be _that_ drunk."

"Fine. But maybe I'm independently wealthy. Who says I can't afford to buy you a drink?"

Jensen doesn't falter for a second. He lets his eyes sweep over Jared, assessing, and then says, "I made an educated guess."

Jared feels suddenly conscious of his worn traveling clothes and frayed backpack in a way he never really has before. He ducks his head. "Oh, and you're so special."

"Here you are, sir. I can't tell you what an honor it is to have you at my establishment," the bartender says, appearing just at that moment with Jensen's drink as if he timed it so it would be as humiliating for Jared as humanly possible.

Jared is considering downing the rest of his beer and slinking off to a poké mart so he can get booze and take it back to his hotel room and drink it in humiliated solitude.

"Thanks," Jensen says, dismissing the bartender's ass-kissing with a self-assured wave of his hand. "Don't mention it, and if you really wanna get on my good side, forget I was ever here."

The bartender looks stunned, but he nods and walks off to serve someone else. Jared twiddles his thumbs awkwardly on the counter. "Should I know who you are? Because I really am out of the loop, so sorry, but you'll have to fill me in."

"No," Jensen says, giving Jared a warm smile. "In no way, shape, or form should you know who I am. I like that you don't know who I am."

Jared nods, still looking down at his hands, and then he feels Jensen's warm palm on his thigh and he can't help looking up. "I upset you," Jensen says softly. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Jared shakes his head. "Well, I am pretty broke, so it's not like you said anything that isn't true."

"Fuck it, who cares? What you do is more important than money." Jensen squeezes his leg. "The least I can do is buy the hero a drink."

"I appreciate that." Jared waves the bartender over. "But I can afford to fight Rockets and get sloshed on my own."

"Those Rockets are real bastards, huh?" Jensen clucks his tongue. "Have you heard about this new thing in Lavender Town?"

It's an obvious way to avoid letting Jared pay, but the bastard knows how to manipulate him already, and Jared's attention is sufficiently riled. "No. What new thing?"

Jensen swishes the liquid in his glass casually. "I heard a rumor they've taken control of the tower. Trying to figure out a way to turn some of the Pokémon buried there into new ghost-types."

Jared's eyes get so big they nearly fall out of his head. "They what now?"

"Just what I heard," Jensen replies.

"Something like that would have gotten out. The tower is right by Mr. Morgan's Pokémon house. I know Jeff—I've taken hundreds of Pokémon there for recovery. He wouldn't let something like that happen right on his doorstep. He would have at least called me to—"

"You're probably right," Jensen cuts in. "Anyway, you've got a boat to catch. Places to see. It's probably nothing to worry about."

"I'll have to go there myself and find out," Jared says. "I can leave tomorrow, as soon as Dean comes back." He thinks it over for a moment and swallows a lump. "No, maybe I shouldn't wait until—Dean used to be one of theirs, you know. If I lead him back—"

"You can't go there," Jensen says. "You said it yourself, the last time we talked. You're one person. You're not going to be able to stop them."

"I can try," Jared replies, wondering what's prompting this sudden 180-degree turn. Last week, Jensen had been 100% behind Jared. He was the only person to ever be entirely supportive, and Jared had believed he meant it. He didn't even realize how much he needed someone backing him up until Jensen did. Only to yank it away a few days later? "I can't just let them torture dead Pokémon like that."

"You can't just walk in there and think you'll get lucky like the last—" Jensen stops himself, takes a long breath. "Jared, just think it through, okay? Let's just…let's get a room and you can take a night to think about it."

"But Dean will come back," Jared says weakly. "I can't make him stop following me, and I'll lead him right back to—"

"Well, that's something else to consider," Jensen says, his voice shaking. "Don't make him go."

"What are you afraid of?" Jared asks. "What's it matter to you if I do get myself killed?"

"Don't say that," Jensen replies, grabbing Jared's arm. "You don't even know what you're saying."

Jared tries to stand up and it's lucky Jensen's still got a steady grip on him. He didn't realize how drunk he was until he got to his feet. Jensen rises with him, dropping a few bills carelessly on the counter and wrapping his arm around Jared's middle. "C'mon. Let's sleep on it, okay?"

Jared lets Jensen lead him, even though he's not drunk enough to not know where he's going. He's just confused. Jensen doesn’t make any sense. First he tells Jared that he actually respects Jared's beliefs and now he's trying to talk Jared out of them. And why did he even tell Jared about this latest Rocket scheme if he didn't want Jared to try to fix it?

"Who are you?" Jared asks as they walk. "Why won't you tell me anything? Am I just supposed to trust you?"

"Yes." Jensen says, stopping in front of the inn and opening the door for Jared. "You should trust me."

"Why should I?"

Jensen doesn't say anything as he waits for Jared to cross through the open doorway. He just watches Jared with these big, intense, sad green eyes, and Jared can't fucking remember where he's seen those eyes, but for some stupid reason, it is enough to make him trust Jensen.

He goes in and Jensen follows him, walking up to the concierge. The boy behind the desk, a tough guy type wearing a name tag that says Brock, looks them over, his eyes widening a bit when he sees Jensen. He sits up straighter and wipes the rebellious-teenager-I-hate-you-even-though-you're-a-customer look off his face. "Can I help you?"

"We need a room. You know where to charge it, right?"

Brock raises an eyebrow, but he nods. "Yes, Mr. Ackles. Of course."

Jared shakes his head, looking around the lobby. He realizes this isn’t where he told Dean to meet him and tugs on Jensen's sleeve. "We have to go somewhere else," he says as Jensen takes the key card that Brock slides across the counter to him. "Dean isn’t going to come here."

"Dean will know," Jensen tells him softly. "I promise he'll know."

Jared is just drunk enough to forget to ask how, how it's possible that Jensen's never met his Ninetales and yet he seems to know when Dean will or will not be around. Instead, he lets his head drop onto Jensen's shoulder, and Jensen walks him to their room. He helps Jared into bed and climbs in behind him.

Jensen buries his face in Jared's neck, giving him another one of those weirdly tender kisses. He doesn't understand Jensen, doesn't understand anything about him.

"Go to sleep, Jay," Jensen tells him, pushing hair away from Jared's temple and brushing his lips over it.

It doesn't seem possible, Jared thinks, for one person to give off so much warmth, but it wraps around Jared better than any blanket, and he can't even think to try to resist sleep.

Jared doesn't wake until his phones rings the next morning, and he turns over to face it, letting out a groan when he sees the time. He slept almost until noon, and he still feels like a Graveler sat on his head. Good life choices, Padalecki.

"Hello," he mumbles into the receiver.

"Good morning, sir. This is the front desk calling. On his way out, Mr. Ackles asked us to ring you if a Ninetales showed up. There's one waiting for you in the lobby."

"Mr. Ackles?" Jared asks. Oh, right. "Jensen?"

He looks over and is not even remotely surprised to find the bed is empty except for him. There's an envelope on the nightstand next to the side Jensen was sleeping on with Jared's name on it. He knows better than to hope it's a 'went out to breakfast, be back soon.' More likely a 'sorry you were too embarrassing to have sex with last night, you won't be seeing me again.'

"Yeah, the very one." There's a short pause from the concierge. "Look, buddy, you sound like you just woke up, so I'm going to let you get ready."

"Right," Jared says, sitting up. "I'll be right there."

"I hope so. Check out's in half an hour."

The line dies then and Jared listens to the dial tone for half a minute before he remembers how to hang up the phone. Apparently people aren't as polite to you once your ambiguously famous fuck buddy has left you high and dry.

He gets out of bed and takes a quick shower, brushing his teeth and throwing his few belongings in his backpack. Then he grabs the envelope Jensen left for him, sitting at the edge of the bed before opening it.

A letter and something thicker fall out onto Jared's lap.

_Jay,_

_Bon voyage. Don't do anything stupid._

_\- J.A._

Jared's confused for a hot second before he realizes that the other thing that fell out of the envelope is a first class ticket for the S.S. Anne with a Pokémon package included. He and Dean could waltz right into Vermillion City and up the pier now and sail to Cinnibar in better luxury than Jared's ever experienced.

Then the conversation he and Jensen had last night flashes back into his mind, and Jared realizes what this is supposed to be. Temptation. Jensen's trying to make Jared forget what the Rockets in Lavender Town are getting up to and just take a nice vacation instead.

He huffs out a laugh and tucks the ticket into his backpack. Maybe he'll treat himself if he actually manages to live through this, but no way is he about to sail off and leave good Pokémon in harm's way.

Dean is waiting for him in the lobby as advertised, draped over an entire loveseat grooming himself while a family waiting for check in stare mournfully at the one and only place to sit. Jared shakes his head and whistles for Dean to get down, understanding why the concierge is so eager for him to get out of here.

The Ninetales looks up at his call and yawns lazily, taking his sweet ass time before deciding to hop down from his couch and let the customers take it.

"You're the reason most hotels don't let Pokémon in," Jared tells him as they walk out the door. "You're why we can't have nice things."

Jared doesn't waste any time heading out of town. He hits route 8 and spends half the walk building up his courage before finally he reaches a nice patch of tall grass and figures he won't get a better chance than this.

He kneels in front of Dean. "Alright, boy. I hate to do this, but, uh. You can't follow me anymore, okay? You gotta stay here. I know I said that a lot, but I really mean it this time."

Dean stares at him like he genuinely has no idea what Jared's saying for the first time since he met the Ninetales, and he remembers that Dean may be smarter and more powerful than pretty much any other Pokémon alive, but he's still a Pokémon. He can't keep expecting Dean to always understand him.

So he gives Dean a light shove, and Dean growls but stands his ground.

"I don't want you anymore," Jared tells the Ninetales. That gets a light whimper, but Dean still licks his hand and tries to push at him for affection.

Jared turns away, continuing to walk, but Dean doesn't just keep following him as usual. He cuts in front of Jared and tries to herd him south, toward Vermillion City and the S.S. Anne. Maybe the Pokémon understands more than Jared wants to give him credit for.

So Jared tries running with that. "I'm going to see the Rockets," he says. "I'm going to go fight them and they'll catch you again if you come with me. And I won't be able to free you this time. So, just, leave me alone already."

Dean stops trying to detain him then, stops dead in his tracks, making a few last sad sounds. Jared can't bear to look at him and risk seeing those big sad green eyes, so he faces ahead and thinks of nothing but one foot in front of the other.

There's no one following him now. It's a hollow victory, and he knows he'll lose it if he looks back for even a second.

He walks and walks and pays no attention to the scenery or the people along the route or even the amount of time that passes. He doesn't realize the sun is setting and he'll have to camp for the night until someone grabs his arm and forces him to spin around.

"Jared."

Jared shakes Jensen off and glares. "Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

"Because I knew you'd be an idiot about this," Jensen replies, starting to walk at Jared's side when Jared tries to pass him by. "Please, will you just stop and think about this? 

"Think about what, Jensen?" Jared asks. "I told you what I do. Why would I turn back on this?"

"There are hundreds of Rockets in Kanto. Probably at least fifteen in Lavender Town alone. They all have Pokémon—powerful Pokémon. They have money and connections and they've already taken over. You're one guy, with one Pokémon at the best of times, and no one backing you up. This is a suicide mission." 

Jared stops in his tracks and gives Jensen a cold look. 

Jensen just sighs. "Look, Jared, my family, we're powerful. We can go to Cinnabar, like you planned, and get their help. Then you'll have a damn chance at least."

"Fine," Jared says.

For a long minute, Jensen just stares at him with his mouth hanging open. He almost looks disappointed. "Really?"

"Yeah, fine. No problem. Let's go see your family." Jared puts his hands on his hips. "Just tell me how many Pokémon are gonna die in the time it takes for us to get there and back and put a stop to this."

"Jared," Jensen says, grabbing out for him again. "Come on."

"What are you even doing here?" Jared asks. "What does any of this matter to you?" He gives Jensen a long look, just trying to understand the guy, then steps back. "I've got no reason to trust you. For all I know, you're one of them."

Jared blinks a few times as soon as the words are out of his mouth, watching the insult as it washes over Jensen. He looks stung at first, then guilty, and it's so fucking obvious it's embarrassing. From the moment they met, Jensen already knew so much about Jared. He went along with all of Jared's ideas even though no one else ever has. And how could he have known about some Rocket scheme Jared has yet to catch wind of unless he's been a part of it this whole time? He was bait, and Jared fell for it over and over.

"Fuck, you are, aren't you?" Jared asks, shoving Jensen. "You're one of them."

Jensen denies it with a shake of his head, but he says, "Not anymore."

Jared turns his back on Jensen, wiping a hand over his mouth. "What does that even mean?"

"You're right, okay? I worked for them. I was a part of this until I got out, but Jared—"

He feels a sick twist in his gut thinking of all the times he let Jensen touch him—after doing who knows what with those same hands. "How could you?"

"I didn't have a choice."

"Bullshit," Jared yells. "You always have a choice. You know who really doesn't have a choice? Their Pokémon, who you probably had some part in torturing. My Dean—no wonder he takes off every time you're near. To think I've been subjecting him to you."

"Stop it," Jensen snaps. "Stop it, okay? I was young and I was stupid. I made a mistake. I paid for it, and I got out. And I told you about Lavender Town because I don't know how to stop it myself. Don't I get any points for trying to fix what I did?"

"What, and then trying to convince me not to do anything?" Jared laughs coolly. "No you definitely do not get points for that." Jared shifts his weight from one foot to another. "Is this a trap or something? Was the whole story you told me bullshit just to get me there?"

"Why would I try to talk you out of going, then?"

"Why did you tell me at all if you actually don't want me to go?" He demands. "You must have known I would want to interfere."

"Yeah, I thought maybe you'd listen to reason and not go storming in by yourself. I thought you've been doing this long enough, you must have some way to block them without getting yourself killed."

"Well, you were wrong."

"Starting to get that," Jensen replies sharply. "Jared, I am begging you. Do not go after them alone."

"You could come with me." Jared gives Jensen a nasty smile. "If you're so repentant. If you don't want me going in by myself. Why don't you come help me stop them?"

Jensen stops abruptly, a lost-little-boy look on his face. "I can't. I won't."

Jared barks out a laugh. "That's what I thought."

Jensen catches him by the shirt sleeve and drags him back again. "You don't know what you're doing. You don't know how bad they are."

"Who knows better than I do?" Jared asks. "The things I've seen in the last few years—they're horrific. I'm not going because I'm not scared of Team Rocket. It's just the opposite. But when I remember what they did to Dean," Jared looks down at his feet, "I don't think a smarter or stronger Pokémon than him exists, and he would have been dead in the worst way if I'd arrived a few minutes later than I did. I can't even imagine that. He's all I've got now, Jensen. This—suicide mission or not—this kind of thing is all I have. So if I die tomorrow, fine. I can do that if there's even a slight chance it'll free another Pokémon like him."

"What about Dean, then? You're going to leave him all alone."

Jared's anger falters, and he knows, as stupid as it is to still trust Jensen, no Rocket would ask that question. Even if Jensen was one once, he never could really have been like them.

It tears at his heart to have to face the accusation, but Jared can't waver now. "He'll be fine without me."

"He won't be," Jensen replies, his voice shaking as if he's personally invested in the feelings of a Pokémon he's never even met. "Don't pretend you don't know that."

Jared frowns. "Dean will understand. You might not, but he will. He always understands me."

Jensen is quiet for a long time, but finally he nods, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I can't change your mind, can I?"

"'Fraid not," Jared replies. He takes a step closer and puts his hand on Jensen's shoulder. "I didn't mean what I said earlier, Jensen. I understand why you don't want to fight Team Rocket. I know it's a crazy thing to do, and you do get points for trying to help. Just—just promise me you never hurt a Pokémon, please."

Jensen's eyes widen, and he shakes his head. "Not me. I've never caught a Pokémon in my life."

"You never hurt Dean?" he presses.

"I swear, Jared, I never did."

Jared gives him a weak smile and reaches out to cup his face. "Okay," he says, holding the pose for a few seconds and then dropping his hand. "Okay."

By now, the sun has almost completely set, and the sky is a dark, dark shade of purple. Jared looks ahead, wondering if he should bother to keep going. It's about the time he starts missing those easy fires he's gotten so used to.

"There's no point in walking any further tonight," Jensen says quietly, a few paces behind him. "You can go the rest of the way in the morning."

Jared nods, willing to admit Jensen has a point. Then Jensen steps forward tentatively, taking the backpack off Jared and slowly reaching up to tangle a hand in his hair. The kiss is fleeting, but soft and warm. "I'll pitch the tent," he says. "If you don't mind me being near you a little while longer."

Jared squeezes his hand so that Jensen knows he's forgiven. He falls asleep that night with his whole body wrapped around Jensen's.

The next morning, Jared is roused by a series of excited licks to his face. He sits up, knowing he should be stern with Dean for coming back, but he can't manage it. He pushes the Ninetales away, which only encourages Dean to rush in with twice as much energy.

"You are bad," Jared tells him warmly, scratching the mane of hair on Dean's neck. "You are such a bad Pokémon. Did Jensen let you in, huh? On his way out? Guess you guys finally met."

Dean barks and turns around a few times, chasing nine tails so long he has to be trying not to catch them and trampling allover Jared in the process. Jared laughs. It's a better start to his day than he was expecting, even if he's still a little annoyed he fell asleep with his arms around Jensen only to wake up to find Dean snuggled up against his side instead.

After a while, Dean stops going in circles and swoops down to pick something up in his mouth. He drops it into Jared's lap, and Jared feels his blood turn to ice. It's a poké ball; it's an _empty_ poké ball.

"No, Dean," Jared says. "That's not a toy. We'll find a stick or something if you wanna play fetch, okay? Just let me get dressed."

Jared tries to get up then, but Dean shakes his head stubbornly and noses the poké ball again, rolling it into Jared's palm.

Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower doesn't allow living Pokémon to accompany their masters outside of a poké ball because the ghosts tend to be a little traumatizing. In other words, the only way Dean could come into this Team Rocket fight with Jared would be if Jared caught him and then released him once the Rockets attacked.

But there's no way Dean could know that, and there's no way he's asking Jared to trap him in a poké ball and carry him right back to the gang that tortured him nearly to death.

But then Dean locks eyes with Jared, and Jared knows that's _exactly_ what the Ninetales wants him to do.

"No way," Jared replies, shoving Dean off of him. "Between your bad ideas and Jensen's bad ideas…"

Dean whimpers, turning on his side so that Jared can see the Team Rocket brand on his left thigh. Like he's trying to tell Jared this is his fight, too. Which, fine, fair enough, it is, but Jared's not going to lead another Pokémon he loves into a death-by-Rocket.

And then he gets a kind of horrible idea. If he refuses to catch Dean, Dean will probably be his stubborn self and still follow Jared to the Pokémon Tower, maybe stand outside waiting until Jared comes out (if Jared comes out at all). If the town is crawling with Rockets like Jensen says it is, any one of them could pass by, see him, and nab him. If Jared catches Dean, he can keep the Ninetales out of the fight against the Pokémon's wishes and let him go afterward if he lives, or release him during the battle if it's not looking like he's gonna make it out.

Dean is unbelievably powerful—he'll at least be able to fight the Rockets long enough to escape on his own.

"Okay, boy," he says, picking up the poké ball and relearning the once-familiar feel of it in his palm. He fiddles with it for a few seconds and looks at the Pokémon. "But you gotta promise that if anything happens to me while we're fighting, you'll run like hell. You got that?"

Dean nods, licking Jared's face one last time just so it's really clear he's listening.

"I'll, uh," Jared says, pressing his thumb into the release button and letting the poké ball fall onto the floor of the tent open, "just don't step into it if this isn't what you want."

Dean puts two paws out and falls in, disappearing as the poké ball swings shut with a quiet click. He doesn't struggle, though it would be easy for him to break out. That's how bad he wants to be a part of this fight, and Jared picks up the ball, feeling the slight increase in weight that means it's not empty anymore. He apologizes to the thick plastic casing even though he knows Dean won't hear it.

"Jared Padalecki, as I live and breathe." Jeff Morgan stands in the door to his famous Pokémon volunteer house with a bright, wide grin under his salt and pepper scruff, but he doesn't move forward to give Jared an embrace or backward to welcome Jared in.

It sends up warning flags immediately. Jeff can be a scary bastard when he needs to be, but he's never been anything but kind to friends of Pokémon, and his volunteer house is one of the few places in Kanto Jared has ever found any degree of understanding, even if Jeff jokingly calls him a hippie whenever they get into the debate over keeping and catching Pokémon.

Jared decides to play off his suspicion a few seconds longer. "Got some lodging for a weary traveler?"

Jeff's smile is frozen on his face, which makes it look both uncomfortable and unconvincing. "Would you believe we're all full? Sorry you came all this way."

"How about a warm meal then?" Jared asks, giving him an equally strained smile. 

"Jared," Jeff glances back inside nervously and then shakes his head, "look, it's just not a good time."

"I know about the Rockets," Jared whispers in as low a voice as he can manage. "I'm here to help."

Jeff goes a few shades whiter, but, to his credit, he doesn't play dumb. Instead he reaches out and pulls Jared in roughly by the shirt, slamming the door behind them. "Don't be a goddamn idiot," he snaps. "Talking about things like that in the middle of the street."

"This never used to be a censored town," Jared replies, looking around.

The Pokémon house is emptier than Jared's ever seen it, with only two nurses on duty. It's Sam and Sam, Smith and Ferris respectively, a couple who has been working with Jeff since the house first opened. Jared's not surprised to see they're the last ones standing, but in a place that usually has five or six nurses on duty (along with at least 15 Pokémon enthusiasts hanging out at any given time), it's a shock to see the Volunteer House so empty.

Especially when the demand hasn't thinned any. Jared's never seen this place crammed with so many Pokémon at once, and they all look to be in worse condition than Pokémon usually can get before Jeff steps in. There should be twice as many nurses as usual, not a third less.

"Well," Jared says, looking around. "I knew this economy was tough, but…"

"How do you know about the Rockets?" Jeff demands, not wasting any time.

"A friend told me."

"What friend?"

Jared laughs. "Jensen Ackles."

"That's cute, Padalecki."

Jeff stares at him coolly for a long minute before Jared tries to start on a warmer note. "Where's the Mrs.?"

Jeff's eyes narrow. "What's it to you?"

"Uh, just being polite?" Jared waits a beat, then lifts an eyebrow. "You aren't actually suspecting me of being a—"

"That's new," Jeff says pointedly, nodding down at the poké ball hooked into Jared's belt. "Come around on your morals some since last we met?"

"And you look older," Jared replies. "I wasn't gonna say anything."

Jeff's expression doesn't change, but Sam (Ferris) walks up to his side, slapping Jeff with a towel. "Paranoid is one thing," she tells him. "Accusing Jared Padalecki of being a Rocket is another."

After what seems like a very long time, Jeff huffs out a long breath, nodding. Ferris has an incredible talent not only for speaking sense but also for making anyone who didn't see things her way all along look like a moron. Finally, Jeff nods and gives Jared an apologetic pat on the back.

"Sorry, man," he tells Jared. "This place has been crazy. You wouldn't believe the old friends who fed the Rockets information about us."

"That's why…?" Jared's hand encompasses the whole room, and Jeff, Sam, and Sam all nod. "So where's Hilarie?"

Jeff looks to the other two ladies and waits for their nods before risking saying anything. "Hiding out of town, can't tell you where. I don't even know myself. Took the baby with her."

"That bad?"

Jeff nods.

"Why didn't you send for me?"

"Had no one to send. No one I could trust, at least." Jeff shifts from one foot to the other. "And I'd be suspicious about whatever friend of yours it was that told you to come here. Those bastards are keeping this tight under wraps. They pretty much own the town, but no one's talking about it."

"It's true about the ghosts?" Jared waits for Jeff's solemn nod before getting upset. "How can they keep something this big quiet?"

Jeff shakes his head sadly. "They've taken up residence on the top floor of the tower, which has always had restricted access. I'm willing to bet none of the tourists suspect a damn thing. Even some of the locals—the ones who really don't want to face it—have been able to keep pretending all is well."

"Why haven't _you_ done anything?" Jared asks. "Why the hell are you guys staying quiet?"

Jeff looks away, clearly ashamed, but his voice is firm when he replies. "They threatened my wife and kid, Jared. Team Rocket are not people I can afford to piss off."

Smith nods and puts her hand on Ferris' shoulders. "We're healers, not fighters. We don't have the resources to lash out against them without losing the house."

"And that ain't an option," Ferris tells him, pointing to the beds full of injured Pokémon. "As you can see."

"I tried to plan some kind of response as soon as I started seeing the Rockets sneaking around town, but they took over way faster than we expected." The Sams nod along as Jeff recaps the situation for Jared. "We were hardly able to get everyone cleared out before they were knocking on the door, telling us in no uncertain terms how things were going to be around here."

"That's when Hilarie left?" Jared asks. Jeff nods. "But you stayed?"

He smiles weakly, giving a small shrug. "They toss the weak ones out when they decide it would be too much effort to level them up. Someone had to be here to scoop them up."

"And you ladies refused to leave, huh?"

Sam and Sam give Jared equally blinding grins, and Jeff scowls. "I tried to make them see sense."

"Sense," Ferris says, shaking her head and dismissing Jeff with a wave of her hand. She turns to one of the beds. "Sense in leaving the only thing we've got when it needs us most?"

"There was no talking to them," Jeff says, laughing. Jared can tell he's glad for the company, and he can finally see his friend under all the stress and worry when he laughs.

Jeff puts his hand on Jared's shoulder and begins to steer him to the kitchen. "Let's talk over some food, huh? I'm guessing you're about to be as senseless as the rest of us?"

Jared smirks, following Jeff's lead. "I'm going in today, so if you wanna tell me everything you know, I'd appreciate it."

Jeff sighs. "It's not the kind of thing you wanna take on alone, kid. I don't imagine you have some crazy powerful Pokémon in there," he says, pointing to Dean's poké ball. "A Mewtwo might stand a chance."

Jared has something a lot more powerful than that, but he shrugs. "Just your average Ninetales."

"A suicide mission, then," Jeff says cheerfully. "My specialty."

Three hours later, Jared is finally reaching the top floor of the Pokémon Tower. He hasn't been approached by more than three ghost Pokémon in his entire climb, which would be a relief if it weren't so worrying. The ones that did attack begged for help, and Jared tried to explain that that's what he was there for, but of course, they disappear as quickly as they appear.

So far, his climb has been fairly uneventful. There's nothing suspicious about a guy walking through the world's largest Pokémon resting place looking distressed, not until he's clearing the last set of staircases at least.

A gorgeous red head is sitting at reception, filing her nails into claws. "I'm sorry sir," she says, giving Jared a tight smile. "This floor is restricted."

"Right, yeah, about that," Jared says, stalling. He pulls back and reads the receptionist's name off the placard on the desk. "Alaina, I left my keycard back in my motel room. Would you mind swiping me in?"

As he talks, Jared fishes into his pocket for the sleeping gas Jeff gave him. It's made for injured Pokémon and probably won't work that long on a healthy human, so he has to time this exactly right and no hesitating.

"Yes, I would." She dismisses him and goes back to filing.

Jared takes a big breath of clean air before activating the smoke cloud. All he needs to do is get her card from her and dodge in through the door. Then she'll be locked out without her own clearance and with no phone or radio signals thanks to the effect the ghosts have on the electrical wiring. She'll not only have to leave her post to raise the alarm, but leave the tower altogether, going out searching for the nearest Rocket, and the Sams are waiting downstairs to detain her with inane questions about good places for tourists to visit. Jared probably won't need more time than that, mostly because he'll almost definitely be dead if the fight lasts more than a few minutes.

The plan is for Jeff to slip in with a team of cops and witnesses—enough people and press that the police will have to turn on the Rockets in order to keep themselves from getting busted—but of course, they can only get in if Jared gets them in. It all falls on him.

That thought gives him second thoughts about letting the level 180 Pokémon in his pocket join the fight, but he steels himself and walks down the entrance hall.

"The hell are you doing here?" A man's voice says from the very end. Jared can see three men and two women he doesn't recognize, but the words are coming from one he does. The last Rocket he'd defeated—Dean's former master.

"Came here to teach you another lesson," Jared says, sounding more confident than he feels. "This time you Rockets are really gonna catch hell."

"How'd you get in past Alaina?" One of the women asks. She turns to the group of men, addressing the shorter member of the group. "Dick, I thought you said she was a good trainer. Was that just idiot talk for you wanted in her pants?"

The guy opens his mouth to respond, but Jared cuts him off. "I'm sure she's great," he says, holding up his hand before the fight can really get rolling. "She didn't get a chance to fight, though. I'm not into Pokémon battles so much, so I just let her have a nice nap."

"Not into Pokémon battles?" The same woman replies, laughing deeply. "Then what the hell do you think you're going to accomplish here?"

"I'm going to free your Pokémon, put to a stop to whatever sick mutations you guys are trying to produce, and get all your asses sent to prison."

"By yourself?" The woman asks, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'd like to see that."

She puts her hand on her belt and grabs a poké ball.

"Before you do anything you regret," Jared says, "please keep in mind that Pokémon do not attack people, and if you try to get yours to fight me, they're going to break whatever little control you've managed to get over them and turn on you. I'm just looking out for you here."

It's a fact that has served Jared well—when you've got no way to fight back, it's nice to be able to confidently count on the Pokémon to help subdue their masters.

The woman only smiles. "Aw, look how cocky you've gotten," she says, pulling out a badge booklet and letting it drop open. "I've got all eight gym badges. I can control any Pokémon."

Jared feels his gut twist. It's not possible. There's always been at least one clean gym leader in Kanto, and he was the hardest to beat. The Rockets would have to buy him to get that badge.

"But the Volcano Badge," Jared says stupidly, even though he's staring right at one; she's not lying.

"About that," says the guy who used to be Dean's master. "Donna Ackles is Blaine's daughter, and he really wants his grandson back. Enough to pay a nice ransom on top of the badge, and you're the only thing standing between us and getting that, too."

Jared makes a confused face. "I don't know where Jensen is," he says. "Did he really leave with you so that—?"

"Leave with us? Do you have any idea how much trouble it was just to kidnap that brat?" another man says. "He wouldn't even listen to us—and we offered to cut him in before we went about it the rough way."

"He didn't join willingly?" Jared asks. It's a weird time to be happy, but he's a little happy.

"No, and I'm done talking about him now." The woman who seems to be the leader of the Rockets, at least for now, steps forward. "Onix, I choose you."

She throws down her poké ball and out pops a giant rock monster. Jared is officially screwed.

"Onix, tackle."

Jared makes a last, desperate attempt to stop or at least stall this. "You don't want to do this," he tells the Onix, and he can tell from the look in its eye that he's right.

But the Pokémon attacks anyway, letting out a distressed cry as its rough, stone head pummels into Jared's stomach. Jared's been beat up a lot in the last few years, but he's never experienced pain quite as intense as this. He's halfway back down the hall on his back in seconds, the entire group of Rockets laughing hysterically.

He didn't really expect to win today, didn’t even really expect to last long, but this latest reveal has taken away the one card he had to play, and he's gonna go down embarrassingly fast. No chance Jeff will be able to muster up any kind of support to close down this operation once he's gone, which he _had_ been hoping might be possible.

Jared tries to sit up, but the pain is too intense. He only manages to lift himself enough to see that one of the other trainers has decided to join in on the fun, releasing an Ivysaur and a Poliwrath.

"Ivysaur, vinewhip," he says.

This one doesn't belong to the trainer with the Volcano Badge, so the Pokémon only obeys long enough to give Jared one good slap across the face, leaving a deep slice on his neck, before it turns and wraps its master in thick green ropes.

"You idiot," the woman says. "Leave him to me, dammit. Someone subdue that Ivsaur."

Within seconds, Jared sees an Arbok appear, about to lash out at the Ivysaur. He doesn’t get much of a chance to wonder which one will win. The lady Rocket has turned her attention back on him.

"You're a bigger nuisance than you should be," she says. "But I'm about done here. Onix, dig."

The Pokémon disappears into the ground, and Jared tries to roll away before it can come back up and crack his back, but it still catches him on the side. He's got at least two broken ribs now and it's about game over when she yells, "Rock Throw!"

Within seconds, there's a storm of rocks tumbling down around him. Small ones make contact, but Jared's knows it's only a matter of time before a boulder lands on him and puts him out of this for good.

On the plus side, even in his weak state, unable to stand or kick or even crawl very much, he'll be able to break Dean's poké ball to free him now that there are big, spiky rocks everywhere. He's closer to the entrance than the Rockets are, and Dean will be able to withstand this Onix in a way Jared's weaker human body can't. Dean will be okay.

"Onix, bind him! Kill him!"

He reaches down, grabbing for the ball, and clicks to release his Ninetales. He smiles at Dean as he smashes the ball on a boulder, but Dean makes an angry noise when he sees Jared's condition, apparently realizing he was made to sit out more of the battle than he wanted.

"Go, boy," Jared says, wincing when he feels how much it hurts to talk. "Get outta here. You promised."

Dean doesn't take off running. He makes the Onix faint with one simple fire spin, and Jared feels a small relief when the rocks stop falling. He's still got no way to carry himself out of here alive, but for the moment, living to see if Dean wins is preferable to being smashed flat by a rock.

"You let him get the Ninetales out?" shouts the only Rocket here who can properly appreciate just how bad this news is for them. "Throw every Pokémon you have at that thing. Stop that Ninetales."

Dean growls when he hears his one-time master's voice, and he opens his mouth. Jared sees fire beginning to build in his throat. He swallows hard. If a Pokémon as powerful as Dean spits even a modest flamethrower across this hallway, it's not just gonna kill the Rockets and all their Pokémon, which would be bad enough. The building will probably catch, taking all the innocent staff, mourners, tourists, the ghost Pokémon, and the resting ones, not to mention himself and Dean down with it.

"Don't," he says. His voice is desperate, and he tries to put force into it, but it's hardly a whisper. Dean is too angry and too strong, and the fire is already spilling from the edge of his mouth. "Please don't."

To his surprise, Dean looks back to him, and stares for a long few seconds before he swallows the attack. Then his eyes flash from deep green to the bright red that most Ninetales have, and Jared thinks he must be hallucinating, because not only are his Pokémon's eyes changing color, he hears a voice in his head.

Jensen's voice to be exact. "Duck your head and cover your eyes."

Jared looks around on instinct. "Jensen?" he asks. "Are you here? Did you come after all?"

The warning repeats, much more urgent this time. "Cover your damn eyes!"

Well, it's probably the blood loss talking, but since Jared's already given himself up for dead, he figures it can't hurt. So he turns his face down toward the ground and wraps his arm around his eyes as an extra shield.

Even through all those barriers, Jared sees orange on the back of his closed eyelids, a carryover from how bright the flash is. It's pretty brilliant—the Rockets will all be blinded, their Pokémon temporarily so, and all without killing or maiming anyone. Even if the Rockets do deserve it.

"Free their Pokémon," Jared tells Dean, looking across the hall and trusting the Ninetales to follow his glance. "You understand, don't you? Bite their poké balls until they snap. You guys can wrap them up, and hopefully hold them until—if the cops come."

Dean gives an agreeable bark and runs off to do as told. Jared misses him immediately, but it doesn't matter now. They might still win this. He won't get to see it, but it's a good note to go out on.

He closes his eyes and feels himself slipping, but then there are warm, human hands on his face. With some effort, Jared manages to open his eyes and look up. Jensen is kneeling beside him, looking terribly concerned. Jared knows he can't really be here, that he must be hallucinating again, but that's okay. He smiles at the opportunity to sooth his guilty conscience, even if it isn’t the real Jensen hovering above him.

"Jen," he says. "I'm sorry. I should have let you explain about the—"

"Shh," Jensen says. "Don't worry about that. Just stay with me, okay? I'm gonna get you out of here. You're gonna be alright if you just hold on a little longer."

"Mmm," Jared says. He coughs, and some blood comes up. "Don't feel so good."

Jensen's tender touch on Jared's face puts him to sleep as fast as ever.

The S.S. Anne is a big fucking ship. Jared knew this from the commercials and ads, but his imagination could never have really envisioned sailing away on something so grand. He arrives at the Vermillion Pier a week after his successful attack on Team Rocket, though he spent five of the last seven days asleep and drugged on potions before his nurses (Sam and Sam, of course) cleared him for travel.

Jeff had insisted he borrow a flying Pokémon instead of walking, and Jared agreed despite himself, half because it was a short journey and Jeff's Fearow would make it with ease and half because he still felt like shit.

Now he's sitting on one of the main deck benches, staring out at the water, wondering how many Horseas and Magikarps are swimming below them.

"It's a nice view, huh?"

Jared doesn't know if he's surprised to see Jensen sitting down next to him, but he decides to act like he was expecting it all along. "Pretty impressive, yeah."

"How'd the Lavender Town thing go?" he asks casually, and Jared can hear him rustling through his pockets for a cigarette.

"I'm sure you know," Jared replies. "I'm the one that doesn't watch the news, and even I know it's everywhere."

"Ah, but they're all saying this Jeffrey Dean Morgan character saved the day." Jared snorts, and Jensen asks, "It doesn't bother you that he's getting all the credit?"

Jared shakes his head. "I asked Jeff not to mention me. No good getting too much attention, you know? Don't want the Rockets actively looking for me."

"They will be after this. You know that, right?" Jensen fusses with his lighter until he finally gets the cigarette lit and holds it between his lips. "Word'll work its way up the ladder."

"Yeah." Jared figured, but he wants to put that off as long as possible. "Not so good at making friends, but I'm great at making enemies."

Jensen snorts and stands up, walking a few feet to the ship's railing and leaning on it as he smokes. Jared watches him for a while before standing and limping to his side. He puts his back on the railing and says, "So, Jeff tells me I owe my life to Jensen Ackles."

"That a fact?" Jensen asks, waving at a cloud of smoke as he releases it.

"Yup. He says you carried me out and let him know it was time to move in." Jared licks his lips. "I told him that was bullshit. Maybe Jensen carried me out, but it was Dean that saved my life."

"Ah," Jensen answers, quirking his lips. "And what does Mr. Morgan say to that?"

"He still can't believe I know Jensen Ackles." Jensen cracks up, and Jared grins, turning around. "I should really figure out who you are, huh?"

"It might be helpful. Eventually." Jensen looks over at him while taking a drag from his cigarette, his expression dimming a little more with every second. "How's Dean?"

The Ninetales had shown up at Jeff's doorstep the night of the incident and hadn't left Jared's bedside for the first few days. Every time he awoke, it was to warmth and excited barking and licks on his face and a good, good weight from the heavy Pokémon dozing on his legs. But as soon as Jared was well enough to be up and about…

"I haven't seen Dean in days," Jared replies. "I guess he figures he paid me back for saving his life and he's done with me." Jensen makes an upset face at his cigarette, then turns away from Jared. Jared puts a hand on Jensen's shoulder, and Jensen looks back. "Or, at least, that's what I thought until right now."

"What changed your mind?" asks Jensen.

Jared looks up at him for so long it's probably pretty awkward for Jensen, but what Jared is about to say is crazy, and a part of him is still considering not saying it at all. "You're him, aren't you? You're my Ninetales?"

If Jensen has him institutionalized, Jared would probably not blame him. He knows how fucking nuts it is, but it explains so much: Jensen's coming and going, Dean's intelligence and strength, why Jensen wouldn't say anything about himself, even why they both lost interest in him once Team Rocket was defeated. Everything except how his Pokémon and the guy he's been kind of accidentally dating could possibly be the same.

Jared has even thought it was kind of obvious once it occurred to him, one of the many times this past week that he's sat and thought over everything that's happened since he freed that Ninetales. He missed Dean and he missed Jensen and somehow realizing that it might be the same rejection didn't make it hurt any less.

But here Jensen is now, half of the wound healed, and if he's somehow right, maybe that'll mean his Pokémon didn't run from him after all.

Jensen doesn't confirm or deny it. He just tosses his cigarette butt off the end of the ship and takes Jared's hand. "Let's go to your room."

"You are so not about to distract me with sex," Jared tells him. "Until after we talk about this."

Jensen leans in, giving him a careful kiss on the lips and pulls away. "Just not something I wanna talk about in public."

Jared nods. There's no one on the ship deck, but whatever. He and Jensen walk the rest of the way to Jared's spacious room in silence, and Jensen sits on the sofa as soon as they're inside, waiting for Jared to close the door behind him.

"Is it true?" Jared asks.

Jensen watches him for a minute, then flashes that cocky smile of his. Before Jared can ask what he's smiling about, there's a Ninetales landing on his four paws just in front of Jared's sofa. Jared's eyes feel like they're about to boggle out of his head, so he takes a seat at the end of his bed, staring at Dean—or at Jensen, or at Jensen as Dean, or something.

Dean jumps up next to him, putting his chin on Jared's cheek, and Jared reaches up to stroke the fur on his neck, but by the time his hand gets there, it's skin he's touching and Jensen's face on his shoulder, his lips pressing a kiss into the side of Jared's neck. "Now you know why I followed you. Why I'll always follow you."

"It's not possible," Jared says, which is ridiculous, because he just watched it. He would think this was a dream if not for the warmth rolling off of Jensen. "How is it possible?"

Jensen shrugs. Because apparently being able to turn into a Pokémon at will just isn't that interesting to him. "My family—actually, a lot of the really old families on Cinnibar Island—we all turn into Pokémon. It's just something that has always been in our blood."

"Oh, yeah, just a routine family curse—"

"It's not a curse," Jensen says. "Do you think it's a curse?"

"No, Jensen, that's not what I meant." His eyebrows draw together and then smooth out. "I don't know what to think." He takes a deep breath. "Is this why you're famous? Do people know this is a thing that happens? Man, I have got to start watching the news."

Jensen laughs like that delights him and squeezes Jared's hand. "My family is very powerful, Jared, and very rich, and that's why we're famous. No one knows about the whole werePokémon thing except the people on our Island. We keep quiet about it. That's why I never told you," Jensen makes a sorry face and now Jared's the one squeezing his hand, "it's not that I didn't trust you with my secret. If it was just me, I would have told you weeks ago. It was my family's secret. My island's secret."

"I understand," Jared reassures him. "Well, understand the 'you not telling me' thing. Still working on the 'my boyfriend's a Pokémon' thing."

"You trying to stake a claim or something?"

Jared feels his face burning, so he decides to throw the embarrassment. "Were you, like, a Vulpix when you were little? Because that is just too adorable."

"Shut up," Jensen says, slapping Jared's thigh, but he can't hide his smile. "Yeah, I was. My dad got me a fire stone for my 18th birthday and I evolved."

"Are you all—your family, I mean, are you all Ninetales?"

Jensen shakes his head. "Most of the weres on Cinnibar are fire species, but we've got a good mix. My parents met as Magmars before they met as humans. My little sister is a Ponyta, but I'm pretty sure she's gonna be a Rapidash—wow, I guess she's probably evolved by now. Been off my island for too damn long." Jensen looks thoughtful for a second, but he shakes the thoughts out. "My older brother was born a Moltres and has never shifted. He's just a fullblown Pokémon."

"Your mom gave birth to a Moltres?" Jared asks skeptically.

"As a Magmar," Jensen clarifies. Like that somehow makes it all very logical.

"That can happen?" Jared blinks a few times. "Were your parents upset?"

Jensen shakes his head, patient even though Jared is having several small panic attacks. "It's believed to be a good omen, actually. And a Pokémon as strong as Moltres? It's a great honor."

"But?" Jared adds, because Jensen doesn't look honored. He looks grumpy.

"But it also means he can't inherit the family title, which left me as the heir. Not really a position I wanted. So I left the island as soon as I could in some idiotic rebellion." Jensen shakes his head. "I was a dumb kid, and I thought I knew a thing about being out on my own."

"What dumb thing led to the Rockets?"

"A pretty face." Jensen smiles wistfully. "I didn't think anyone off the island knew weres existed, let alone that I was one. I guess not everyone is as loyal as I believed. And the idea of someone trapping a human in a poké ball—" Jensen shudders. "Things like that never even occurred to me in my charmed life. So I got drunk with some boy who acted like he just wanted to be able to say he slept with Jensen Ackles, and after I passed out they gave me something that forced me into my Pokémon form. The next time I woke up, I was caught."

"I'm so sorry, Jensen." Jared looks down at his hands. "I was way out of line when I told you you had a choice about working with them."

"You didn't know," Jensen says, smiling as he tucks a hair behind Jared's ear. "How could you have known?"

"I shouldn't have assumed—"

"You should have. I never gave you any reason to listen to me." Jensen looks as ashamed as Jared feels when Jared looks up at him. "And I tried to talk you out of stopping them. I don't blame you for hating me then. I was too scared—" He frowns and his voice sounds stretched thin. "I'm not brave like you are, Jared. I'm a fucking coward. After all the things they did to me, I should have been the one rushing in there, but I couldn't be like you."

"You did come," Jared points out. "You saved my life. Surer than I saved yours."

"No," Jensen looks up defiantly. "You freed me. You don't understand what that means and I hope you never do, but I could save your life a thousand times and I would still be in your debt."

"The point stands. You're not a coward. You came back for me, even after—fuck, Jensen, I can't believe I made you fight them again after the things they did to you. I couldn't have done it. You're braver than anyone I've ever met."

Jensen shakes his head. "You're a hero. You do things just because they're right. When I told you what the Rockets were using me for, I did want you to go after them, but I also meant it when I was trying to talk you out of going. And I didn't mean it. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you stand up to my master—even if you hadn’t managed to free me, I would have loved you. And when you kept insisting you were going to come to Lavender Town and fight—fuck, I fell even more in love with you. Even as I wanted to hit you over the head with something for it." He laughs at himself. "I didn't come back because it was the right thing. I came back because I'm selfish. I loved you too much to just let you go in there and die."

"Call it what you want, Jensen," Jared says. "At the end of the day, I'm alive because of you."

Jensen gives him a half-smile and looks away.

"I don't get why they caught you for a ransom and then worked you nearly to death."

"Ah," Jensen says. "Well, their plans changed. Their leader, Giovanni, got cocky. Thought he could move onto our island and take over our gym. We didn’t think it would be prudent to declare war openly, so we trapped him in the nicest way possible." Jared raises an eyebrow and Jensen grins. "There are no jailers in Kanto more effective than his overbearingly polite neighbors, I assure you. Giovanni hasn't been able to plan anything for the Rockets since he moved to Cinnibar."

Jared laughs. "Nice!"

"Yeah, we had it pretty well under wraps until some idiot went and got himself caught."

"But that still doesn't explain why they held onto you after they kidnapped you."

"How loyal do you think the average Rocket is?" Jared concedes the point. "The jerk that caught me did it initially to free Giovanni and win a little prestige within the organization, but when he realized how strong werePokémon are he figured he could be the new Giovanni with that much power. Lucky for me, you threw a wrench in that plan."

"I see," Jared says. "So your family fights Team Rocket?"

"Only when they dared to come to our doorstep. After this—once I get home and tell my family about the things they do to Pokémon, I'm going to make sure we redirect our resources to fighting them. I meant that much when I was trying to talk you out of fighting. You won't be the only one standing up to them anymore."

Jared smiles. "So I'm going to meet the parents, huh?"

"If you want to. If not, we can go somewhere else," Jensen replies. "When you said you were coming to Cinnibar, I decided to follow you just for the protection, you know? Someone I knew would keep me from Team Rocket until I could run back to mommy and daddy. After a few days with you, all I wanted was to be your Ninetales."

"That's kind of kinky," Jared jokes. Jensen doesn't take it the wrong way, just chuckles and kisses Jared. "I want to go home with you. I want you to come with me when I leave. I've never been happier than I have been since you started following me."

"Together we'll stick it to Team Rocket, huh?"

"Definitely." Jared kisses Jensen a little harder then, and Jensen moans, pushing Jared back onto the bed. "And sex on the way."

"And sex on the way!" Jensen declares, raising his fist. "What a battle cry."

"Quit being snarky and let me see your giant dick already," Jared tells him. "Don't think I've forgotten about it. It haunts my dreams."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Jensen says awkwardly. "There's one more thing I need to tell you before—"

Unfortunately for Jensen's cool and collected approach, Jared's hand is already in his underwear, stroking his dick. "Holy crap, what the fuck?"

Jensen's cheeks go bright red under the freckles. "Right. So. My dick."

"Your dick is insane," Jared informs him, pulling it out and confirming that, yes, there is some kind of swelling at the base and wow it's so big Jared is a little worried he's going to faint. "And huge."

"Yes, well."

"Explain," Jared demands, pointing to Jensen's groin.

"It's my knot," he says. "I, uh. Well. It's like this: you know how I have a lot of human characteristics when I'm Dean?"

Jared nods dumbly.

"This would be my carryover from being a Ninetales."

"Wow, wow, wow," Jared says. "You have a Pokémon dick. This is just too weird."

Jensen frowns, trying to tuck himself away. "It's okay, Jared. I know it's…different. You don't have to be into it. Just let me take care of you."

"This is why you wouldn't let me touch your dick before?" Jared asks. " _This is why_?"

"Obviously."

"Who holds out like that when there are weird new and exciting dicks to be had?" Jared stares for a little while longer and then asks, "Can I—I mean—would it…fit? Could you fuck me? Is that possible?" Jared swallows hard. He's almost salivating, and that's probably weird, but he really could not care less right now. That is a very, very large cock. "Can that please be possible?"

Jensen snorts. "Hello, size queen."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Jared says, sticking his hand out like he's going to shake Jensen's.

Jensen laughs and sits back. "You're serious? It doesn't turn you off."

"What part of I want that in me twenty minutes ago are you having such a hard time understanding?"

"It's possible," Jensen tells him, kissing him slowly.

They move up the bed as they make out, Jared sliding his hand between Jensen's legs every chance he gets to learn the new feel of this dick.

"I haven't been with anyone since I left home. At least not for anything that involved them seeing my knot. But back on Cinnibar, where everyone knows weres exist, even if they aren't one." Jensen gives him a filthy smile and then bites his bottom lip. "Oh, yeah, Jared. I can fuck you. But it's gonna be tight. And it's gonna be—we can't just stop if you don't like it. I'll get stuck once I'm in and then—" Jensen coughs. "Then I'll breed you until the knot goes down."

"You'll _breed_ me?"

"I'll come and come and then come some more. There will be a lot of come before the knot unties. And it might hurt a little."

"But on the other hand, gigantic dick, right?"

"Yes," Jensen answers. "There is that."

"I would like to volunteer myself for this breeding," says Jared. "I am an excellent fuck and can provide references if necessary."

Jensen rolls his eyes. "You're certainly a very enthusiastic lay."

"And we haven't even gotten started yet."

"Let's fix that?" Jensen straddles Jared, pulling his shirt off over his head.

Jared does the same and moves his hand down Jensen's bare chest to the already open flap of his jeans. He traces the line of a long scar, realizing that Jensen is covered in them, and wanting to crush every Rocket in Kanto even as he's so turned on he's burning up.

Jensen freezes on top of him and rolls off Jared. He rubs his face with two hands. "I don't know what I look like anymore."

Jared's eyebrows draw together. "Good? You look better than humans are supposed to look, so don't you worry your pretty head about that."

"I mean…" Jensen pushes Jared's jeans and underwear down and Jared squirms to make it possible for Jensen to remove them. He's stark naked at Jensen's side, but Jensen's hand trembles when Jared reaches out to do the same to him. "They branded me, Jared. I'm marked as their property."

Jared sucks in a quick breath, remembering the ugly mark seared into Dean's side. He moves slower now, not wanting to spook Jensen. "You're not theirs," he reminds Jensen, dragging him down for a kiss. "You're mine now. You're all mine, and I'm yours."

Jensen nods, returning the kiss and letting Jared work off the last of his clothing, though slower than Jared would like. Once Jensen's naked, Jared pulls back and looks him over: all those scars and burns and the bright red brand on his thigh. "You look like someone who did the right thing and won. That's what you look like."

He moves down on the bed, kissing Jensen's chest, sliding his tongue down the track of a scar and finding that he's kind of into this. He follows it back up, the pink tissue slices through one of Jensen's nipples, but Jensen shivers and lets out a moan when Jared's tongue flicks at what's left of it.

Jensen's hands bunch in Jared's hair, and he says Jared's name in a low, reverential tone.

Jared grins darkly, meeting Jensen's eyes. Jensen looks so fucking wrecked it's obscene, and Jared wants so much of him.

"Right. Lube," Jared says. "You have been a Pokémon for the last however long, so I have to get the lube."

"Good, yeah," Jensen says, lying back on the mattress. When Jared returns, Jensen takes the bottle of lube and turns onto his side while Jared slides in under him, spreading his legs. "You sure you want to do—?"

"Oh, _get on with it_ already," Jared growls, putting one hand on the back of Jensen's neck and yanking him in for a rougher kiss.

Jensen makes a feral sound, rubbing his face into the crook of Jared's neck. "You're gonna pay for that mouth of yours," he promises. "I'm gonna fuck you 'til you can't say a word."

"Put up or shut up," Jared replies with a smartass grin. It's not his best work, but it gets the point across. Simple, direct.

Jensen's tongue is down his throat again in seconds, and Jared's so busy sucking on it that it's a shock to him when a slick, cool finger presses against his hole. Jared gasps, but Jensen doesn't stop and ask if he's reconsidering again. He slides his index finger into Jared all the way to the knuckle and twists it like a pro.

Jared makes a sound that is probably not a real word, but he will never admit that to Jensen. 

"I've got more for you," Jensen promises, replacing his one finger with two and sucking on Jared's jaw line. "You think you like a big dick, Jared? You haven't had one yet."

"Please." Jared's body arches up and he writhes shamelessly as Jensen's two fingers work at him. "Please, please."

Jensen pulls his fingers away, and Jared gets really excited, but he doesn't get Jensen's cock yet. Just more fingers. Three this time, with Jensen's pinky teasing at his hole. So much teasing and not nearly enough getting fucked.

"Jensen," he nearly sobs, and Jensen laughs at him, the bastard.

"You need to be ready for this. I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh, for the love of—hurt me. Just hurry up and do it."

"Okay," Jensen replies, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand. "Okay, just let me…it's been a while, Jay. Don't want to lose it on you before I even get in."

That brings to mind images of Jensen jerking off on him, all the come he promised flowing over Jared, making him filthy. His brain is actually broken from the visual, and by the time he's got it back on line, the tip of Jensen's cock is lined up with him.

He files away the jerk off thing for future reference and reaches down, urging Jensen into him. Jensen inches in slowly. He has to. Jared thought he knew what he was in for, but, yeah, he's pretty surprised if it does fit as advertised, because Jensen's only halfway in and Jared feels like he's going to rip apart at the seams.

"Oh god," Jared says, panting. "That's—a lot."

"Told you." Jensen strokes a hand through Jared's sweaty hair. "You still on board?"

"Yeah. Just. Be careful."

"I won't hurt you," Jensen promises. "I want to make you feel so good, Jay. It's all I've wanted. You don't know how bad. Didn't ever think you'd want this, too."

"I do," Jared assures him, even though with the burn of it, he's starting to wonder if he really does.

At least until Jensen finally finishes easing in. He pulls back quickly, which tugs at Jared, giving him a better understanding of what Jensen meant by being stuck, but then he shoves in harder than when he'd been pacing himself to give Jared's body time to adjust and that's when he hits Jared's prostate with a force that literally makes Jared see stars for a few seconds. He has to blink more than once before it clears out and he can see Jensen watching him for a sign of whether to keep going or not.

Jared grabs Jensen's face. "Do that again. Do that forever—"

Jensen must get tired of hearing it, because he starts fucking into Jared, alternating between quick, sharp thrusts and smoother rolls of his hips. One repeats the force, with quick jolts of pleasure so good it's almost too much to bear, and the other lets Jared settle into the feeling as it spreads slowly from his ass to his dick and on until it's nothing but a sweet tingling in his fingers.

Jared wraps an arm around Jensen's neck using that for leverage as he tries to move with Jensen, but it's true that there's not much space for it. They're grinding together like they're one incredibly horny creature instead of two, and Jared's finding that he actually enjoys the tug when Jensen's knot gets caught on him.

"I'm gonna come," Jensen whispers.

Jared's kind of disappointed, because they haven't really been going that long, and he could do this all night without wanting to lose the connection between them.

Jensen laughs and kisses Jared's mouth, and Jared realizes he was pouting. "I'm gonna keep coming for a really long time, Jay. We're not even almost done."

"That much?" Jared asks. He sounds a little giddier than he meant to.

"Mmm, yeah," Jensen pulls Jared's head sharply to the side, and he feels rough stubble tease at his neck. "You have no idea what you're in for."

Jared really doesn't, not until Jensen starts to release and he feels the wet hot thrill of being filled up, even as he was already past capacity. None of the come can get out, so Jensen's thrusts become a little more fluid, a lot easier inside of Jared now that there's a little more lubrication.

Between all the come trapped inside of him, Jensen's heavy breathing as he fucks away on top of Jared, and the constant stimulation, Jared realizes he's about to come. He hasn't even touched his dick, but he's pretty sure—

It's a yell that comes out of his mouth as he shoots. Maybe not as much as Jensen is, but certainly a lot more than he ever has. Jensen doesn't laugh all cocky now, he's too busy fucking Jared, holding onto the mattress for dear life as he comes and comes and _just keeps coming_.

Jared feels every bit of stimulation, but he's so worn out from his orgasm that for a few minutes that he just lies there, breathing in the fiery scent of Jensen and making low sounds of approval when something feels too good to keep quiet about. He's spent for now, but he enjoys the slip of Jensen's dick inside him as finally the knot begins to loosen enough for Jensen to fuck in and out.

Above him, Jensen is keening like he's in agony, and Jared puts a hand on the back of his head, soothing his fingers over the short spiky hairs and making calming sounds as Jensen's last thrusts transition into smaller ones, until he's humping Jared shallowly and shooting his last few bursts.

It's weird when Jensen pulls out—not that it hadn't been kind of weird to have that much in him, but the fuck lasted so long and felt so good that Jared's poor addled brain apparently forgot how it felt to be empty.

Not completely empty, of course. Jared's a mess with so much of Jensen's jizz between his legs, and he's not sure why it's so hot, but it is. He dips his fingers down, pushing them into his raw hole and then drawing them to his lips, licking Jensen right off himself.

"You're filthy," Jensen tells him, but he says it warmly, and he cups Jared's face gingerly as he draws Jared in for a kiss. "Fuck, I love how dirty you are for me."

Jared smiles against his mouth. "Probably leave that part out when you introduce me to your parents."

"Mom, Dad, this is Jared. He's a filthy cockslut." Jensen grins and then puts on a falsetto, which Jared can only assume is supposed to be his mother's voice. "'Oh, Jensen. Just what we always wanted for you! Someone to love you for who you are and because he has a weird thing for knots.'"

"I'm too well fucked to even bother fighting any affronts to my honor." Jared turns over, and then he remembers he wasn't 100% from the battle yet, and maybe that was more physical exertion than he should have gotten up to. "Ow."

Jensen smiles and rests his face on his elbow so he can look at Jared. "We're really doing this, then?"

"Not the part about telling your parents how I feel about your cock."

"No, I meant the other thing, the one not about my cock."

Jared pretends to look confused. "There was a thing that wasn't about your cock?" He waves a hand between them. "Never mind. I'm not interested."

Jensen laughs and kisses him, but Jared pulls back. "Jen, what if they don't like me? Or if they have a problem with their son and heir abandoning his duties again to chase after bad guys?"

He's not ready to give Jensen up, but he won't stay put on Cinnibar Island and let money and connections do all the work for him, either.

"Jared, it's you and me now. And me as a Ninetales, which is sometimes different from regular me. Either way. We're a team. I want to fight, thanks to you. So we're gonna do that with or without my parents' blessing."

"Good," Jared says, nodding.

He stifles a yawn, and Jensen gives him a knowing smile. "Starting tomorrow?"

"Starting tomorrow," Jared agrees. "What was that brilliant battle cry of ours?"

"Together we'll stick it to Team Rocket—and sex on the way!"

"That's fucking beautiful." Jared gives Jensen a Very Very Serious Expression, complete with capital letters. "We're catchier than Pokémon."

**The End.**


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